By Garry Blanson
“The First Annual Negro Zulu Mardi Gras Parade ever held in Monroe”
Please Note: This is part of a two-part series.
Well, I must admit that as a Black male currently living in the Booker T. Washington area, near Renwick Street, in Monroe, asking me to be pleased with the Ouachita Parish Police Jury’s “decision to prioritize the upgrading of its main branch location,” and renovating a large expansive building on Oliver Road, “instead of providing Black citizens in the Booker T. Washington community with an upgrade of the Carver-McDonald Branch Library,” is akin to asking Black people to be pleased with “all of the 250-year celebrations going on in America,” all the while knowing darn well that many Black people were slaves during many of those 250 years!
You see, about three years ago, during a phone conversation with Ouachita Parish Police Jury member Lonnie Hudson, I distinctly remember him saying that one of the main reasons why “a new Carver-McDonald Branch Library” hadn’t been constructed was because there was a problem with choosing a particular location for “the new Carver-McDonald Branch Library.”
Well, a few weeks ago, it came to my attention that 700 Rogers Street, located behind Carroll High School, would be an ideal site for a new Carver-McDonald Branch Library. By the way, the land at 700 Rogers Street is currently vacant, and I don’t believe that it will cost “8.3 million dollars” to have a new Carver-McDonald Branch Library constructed!
Also, I think that many of the Black citizens of Monroe feel the same as I do, “and we definitely would like to believe that the Ouachita Parish Police Jury would love to do the right thing,” by going ahead and getting the ball rolling on the construction of a new Carver-McDonald Branch Library at 700 Rogers Street!
Ok, now on to this week’s Black Pioneer!
Sadly, during my research on Frank Perkins, I was not able to find any information about him other than his association with the XYZ Club and his involvement with the annual Negro Zulu Mardi Gras parades in Monroe.
Well, around 1930–1931, a little while after the “Great U.S. Stock Market Crash of 1929,” Frank got the idea to start a Negro business club for male Negroes in Monroe. However, in addition to being a business club, the organization was to serve as “a civic and social organization” as well.
Furthermore, the members of the group decided to name their business club, “The XYZ Club!”
Incidentally, since two prominent Negro doctors, Dr. John T. Miller and Dr. Joseph C. Roy Sr., had just recently had “the Miller-Roy Building” constructed in Monroe in 1929, Frank and the group decided that the XYZ Club would hold its meetings inside “the Miller-Roy Building,” which was located on Desiard Street.
While the XYZ Club actually aided and supported several civic organizations and causes in Monroe, the “main two” that stand out above all the rest were “the annual Negro Zulu Mardi Gras Parade, and the Zulu Mardi Gras Ball that followed the massive parade, which was appropriately held at the Savoy Room, in the Miller-Roy Building.”
By the way, I will expound more about the parade and the ball in “next week’s ORBH article,” so look forward to seeing it in next week’s issue of the Monroe Free Press!
Ok, where was I… oh yes, I was informing everyone about the XYZ Club.
You see, when I think about how Frank and the other Negro men of the XYZ Club came together in Monroe during the difficult days and times after the U.S. Stock Market Crash, I can’t help but be proud of them and all that they were able to achieve! They proved that even when times were at their absolute worst financially and economically in Monroe, Negroes could still come together and help one another get through it all!
Oooooops, that’s all for this week’s ORBH article, but stay tuned for part two of this series, where I will inform everyone about “the annual Negro Zulu Mardi Gras Parade and Ball!”
