Atlanta’s Carnival as Cultural and Spatial Practice

Abstract

This essay focuses on the socio-spatial significance of Atlanta’s Caribbean Carnival. I describe how members of the Caribbean diaspora use the annual parade as an assertion of belonging that expands the boundaries for black community life. Based on participant observation and analysis of parade routes over the last decade, I argue that Carnival is an example of creative place-making that reveals how Caribbean residents lay claim to places. In the context of the ongoing displacement of blacks from the City of Atlanta and the spatial re-ordering of the population in the metro area, Carnival affirms new sites of black joy.