2017 West Indian American Day Carnival Parade | StronJeh International Makes Its Eastern Parkway Debut
On Labor Day, September 4, 2017, StronJeh International stepped onto Eastern Parkway for its first West Indian American Day Carnival Parade as an independent mas band.
After years of its creative team contributing costume work and collaborating with other New York mas organizations, StronJeh entered the 2017 Carnival season under its own name. Among the masqueraders joining the band for that debut were Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs and Intrigue Lane, each wearing individual costumes while representing Julianspromos.
The timing gave the moment even more significance. StronJeh was beginning its own Eastern Parkway history during the 50th anniversary of the West Indian American Carnival in Brooklyn.
The day would later carry another meaning for Julianspromos. Outside of its continuing relationship with UberSoca Cruise, the 2017 West Indian American Day Carnival became the last Carnival and last event Julianspromos would cover for the next nine years.
What looked like another Labor Day chapter at the time ultimately became the send-off to an era.
StronJeh International Steps Out on Its Own
The StronJeh name was already connected to New York Carnival before 2017.
Its designers had contributed costume work to other mas presentations and developed experience within Brooklyn’s Carnival community before founders Edouard “Caprice” Connor and Akin Ross brought that work together under the StronJeh International banner.
Going independent meant creating more than costumes. StronJeh now had to develop sections, individual presentations, road logistics and a complete identity capable of taking Eastern Parkway under its own name.
For the 2017 season, that vision became reality.
“Party on the Parkway” — StronJeh’s Official Band Launch
StronJeh formally introduced its first independent Carnival presentation with its Official Band Launch on Friday, May 19, 2017, at the Floyd Bennett American Legion Campus, 5601 Avenue N in Brooklyn.
The presentation was titled “Party on the Parkway.”
Doors opened at 6 PM, the show began at 8 PM, and approximately 41 costume designs were unveiled as the new band introduced the look of its first Eastern Parkway presentation.
The launch marked the transition from years of collaboration and costume design into a full independent mas band.
By the summer of 2017, StronJeh was no longer preparing to become a band.
It was preparing for its first road.
Building the “Party on the Parkway” Experience
StronJeh’s first season was promoted as more than a costume presentation.
The “Party on the Parkway” campaign also highlighted the DJs and music culture that would drive the band on the road, with promotional artwork featuring names including DJ Back to Basics.
The colorful campaign reflected the energy StronJeh wanted to bring to Eastern Parkway — costumes, music and the atmosphere of a moving Carnival party built around the band’s first independent presentation.
StronJeh’s First Road on Eastern Parkway
On September 4, months of planning became moving mas.
StronJeh International joined the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade for its first independent appearance on Eastern Parkway, bringing its costumes into the crowds of Brooklyn’s Labor Day celebration.
For the band, it was the culmination of its first season.
Large feathered presentations, jeweled bodywear and individual costumes filled the road as StronJeh officially became part of the New York Carnival landscape.
Julianspromos was part of that debut from inside the band.
Julianspromos Joins StronJeh’s Debut
Vivaa, Chandy and Intrigue Lane joined StronJeh International in individual mas while representing Julianspromos.
It was a different role from the one the team had often occupied during Carnival.
For years, Julianspromos had documented band launches, fetes, concerts, J’Ouvert celebrations, parades and artist interviews from the media side of Caribbean culture.
On Eastern Parkway in 2017, members of the team were not simply documenting the mas from outside the band.
They were part of it.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson on Eastern Parkway
By 2017, Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson had spent years connected to Julianspromos through artist interviews, event hosting and Carnival coverage in New York and other destinations.
For StronJeh’s debut year, she joined the band in an elaborate individual costume, representing Julianspromos inside its first independent Eastern Parkway presentation.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson with StronJeh International during the 2017 West Indian American Day Carnival Parade.
The photograph captures another side of Vivaa’s relationship with Carnival — not behind a microphone, but inside the mas itself.
Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs on Eastern Parkway
Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs also represented Julianspromos with StronJeh International during its debut season.
Her individual presentation combined red and turquoise feathers, jeweled bodywear and a large feathered backpiece, creating a striking visual as she moved along Eastern Parkway.
Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs with StronJeh International during the 2017 West Indian American Day Carnival Parade in Brooklyn.
Intrigue Lane and the Julianspromos Presence
Intrigue Lane completed the Julianspromos presence within StronJeh International.
Together, Vivaa, Chandy and Intrigue represented the brand inside the band during its first year.
Their participation reflected Julianspromos’ connection to Carnival beyond media coverage. The culture the platform had spent years documenting was also something members of the team actively participated in.
The photographs show the scale of individual mas up close, with detailed Carnival design transformed once the costume reached the road.
Why 2017 Mattered
StronJeh’s debut came during a landmark year for New York Carnival.
Caribbean Carnival traditions in New York stretch back to early celebrations in Harlem before eventually establishing their major home in Brooklyn.
The West Indian American Day Carnival Association, established in 1967, helped develop the Labor Day festivities into the Eastern Parkway tradition recognized today.
In 2017, WIADCA celebrated 50 years of Carnival in Brooklyn under the theme “From a Dream to a Legacy.”
That anniversary created a fitting backdrop for StronJeh’s debut.
Around the new band was a Carnival celebrating five decades of history.
Inside the band was a team experiencing year one.
Individual Mas on the Parkway
The photographs also preserve one of Carnival’s most visually dramatic traditions: individual mas.
Individual costumes allow designers to create larger presentations around a single masquerader, using feathers, jeweled bodywear, headpieces and expansive backpieces to create moving pieces of Carnival art.
The costumes worn by the Julianspromos team captured that tradition during StronJeh’s first year on Eastern Parkway.
2017 West Indian American Day Carnival Photo Gallery
The gallery documents StronJeh International’s first independent appearance on Eastern Parkway during the 2017 West Indian American Day Carnival Parade.
The photographs feature Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, Chandelle “Chandy” De Riggs and Intrigue Lane representing Julianspromos in individual mas during the band’s debut season.
From the Julianspromos Archives
The 2017 West Indian American Day Carnival Parade brought together several chapters of history on the same road.
WIADCA was celebrating 50 years of Carnival in Brooklyn, while StronJeh International was making its first Eastern Parkway appearance as an independent band.
Vivaa, Chandy and Intrigue Lane were part of that first road experience, representing Julianspromos from inside the mas.
But the photographs also capture the closing of an era for Julianspromos.
After years of covering events and Carnivals across New York, Miami, Toronto, Jamaica, St. Maarten, the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Hollywood and other destinations, the 2017 Eastern Parkway appearance became the last Carnival and last event Julianspromos covered outside of UberSoca Cruise for the next nine years.
UberSoca Cruise remained the exception, continuing as a separate promotional and coverage relationship. The wider era of Julianspromos regularly traveling from Carnival to Carnival and event to event effectively ended here.
There is no Julianspromos highlight video from this day. The story is preserved through photography.
Those images capture an unusual intersection: StronJeh International beginning its story on Eastern Parkway while Julianspromos was quietly closing one of its own.
A new band was taking the road.
For Julianspromos, it was a send-off.
