09/03/2026
On Thursday, September 17th, join Windham-Campbell Prize recipient Kei Miller and scholar Amanda Reid on Yale University's campus for a compelling conversation on history, memory, and the radical origins of Caribbean Carnival: https://windhamcampbell.org/festivals/2026/day-of-the-slave-a-carnival-conversation
The title "Day of the Slave" directly references the historical roots of Canboulay—the precursor to modern Carnival born when enslaved people were forced to extinguish fires in the sugarcane fields. Following Emancipation, formerly enslaved people reclaimed those nighttime rituals into an annual street celebration of freedom, endurance, and defiance.
Miller, an acclaimed writer whose work explores space, power, and ritual, joins Reid, a historian of Caribbean dance and performance, to examine how these histories remain embedded in contemporary movement, masquerade, and song.
Together, they will discuss how a ritual forged in the brutality of the plantation transformed into an enduring expression of liberation, offering an illuminating look at the deep history behind the celebration.
This event is free and open to the public.
