Freedom Mas' is the first all-woman band in Toronto Caribbean Carnival history
July 16, 2023
Fighting back tears, Johanna Grant struggled as she recounted her first foray last year as a Toronto Caribbean Carnival bandleader.
“I was in meetings with other seasoned bandleaders where I was talked down to like I am someone’s bitch,” she said. “The attitude was like I am a woman and I am supposed to take direction from you.”
What they did not quite grasp is that Grant is a strong and confident Jamaican woman with an indomitable spirit.
You do not have to like her.
However, she will damn well make sure you respect her.
Starting with three sections last year, Freedom Mas’ Band is displaying nine in 2023.
Above all, they are creating history in the 56-year-old festival as the only band among the 12 that comprises only women.
“As soon as the parade ended last year, I felt empowered and I want other women to get that same feeling,” Grant said.
The band’s theme is ‘Carnival is Woman’ and popular Jamaican dancehall artiste, Konshens, will be on the road with them in the parade on August 5.
A few weeks after the 2022 event, Grant put out a call for section leaders.
“The response was overwhelming and I chose the women that best align with my vision,” she said. “They are positive, energetic and team players. With the exception of one, they are all doing this for the first time after being unsuccessful with other bands. I see they can do the work and they have the opportunity with this band. Women are creative and they can lead.”
Though party bands bringing beads, bikinis and flesh are popular, Grant believes there is a market for creativity and traditional costumes that represent a theme and tell stories.
She said there is a costume for anyone wishing to play mas’ with her band this year.
“There are women who look at carnival and think they have to have a certain type of body to participate,” said Grant. “They should not have to feel that way. We have options that don’t look like what that perception is.”
The costumes in her section, ‘Momma Afrika’, are made from Kente cloth.
Band leader Johanna Grant and her ‘Momma Afrika’ section (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“When I was conceiving this section, I thought about roots and where we came from,” Grant said. “I just get the feeling we are losing our culture because of the festival’s commercialization. ‘Momma Afrika’ is about playing mas’ how you want to and feeling beautiful with as much on as you want.”
Charnell Pierre, who has played mas’ with the top bands in Toronto and in Trinidad the last 12 years, is excited to be part of the groundbreaking women’s collective.
Section leader Charnell Pierre has been playing mas’ for the last 12 years (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“It’s great to see women doing things for women,” she said. “I have the best group of ladies around me and they are like my sisters.”
Pierre was born in Toronto to immigrants from Trinidad & Tobago.
As a teenager, Angelica Mayler started playing mas’ with her friends.
Her section is ‘Miss Bliss’.
Angelica Mayler is the section leader for ‘Miss Bliss’ (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“I have a costume for everyone,” said the product of Jamaican immigrants who played with Freedom Mas last year. “This is my first year as a section leader and I am so proud of myself, particularly as I am with this special group of women.”
Grant’s younger sister, Tracy Grant, is the section leader for ‘Etana Carnival’
Tracy Grant leads ‘Etana Carnival’ (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“It is a representation of Etana, the Jamaican reggae singer, who is fabulous and the country, Jamaica,” she noted. “It’s so fulfilling to be able to represent what we feel carnival means to us. It is not always about showing as much skin as possible. It is about representing your culture and feeling beautiful in the skin you are in.”
Cayla Carroll loves to sew and create costumes.
Section leader Cayla Carroll relishes playing mas’ with an all-woman band (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
‘Being a section leader is right up my alley,” said the George Brown College Fashion Business Industry graduate. “This is a great time for me, even more so to be with a band that is entirely all women. This is a big deal.”
Back in the day, Johanna Grant played mas’ on Eglinton Ave. W. and University Ave. before the Toronto Caribbean Carnival moved to Lakeshore Ave. in 1991.
In later years, the highlight was watching a flatbed truck draped in a large Jamaica flag pass by, blaring reggae music.
“After a while, I didn’t see it and I became frustrated,” she said. “I wanted it for my kids. There is nothing wrong going to Carnival and seeing revelers having a good time to soca and other genres of music. However, there was something about not feeling like I belong there anymore.”
To learn more about carnival culture and experience the behind-the-scene activities leading up to the parade, the mother of five children, ranging in age from 30 to 16, volunteered with mas’ camps and played in different bands, including Toronto Revellers where she was a kiddies section leader.
“While doing all of this, it dawned on me that there were very few Jamaicans involved and that was the reason why there was no Jamaican representation in the Carnival,” she said.
Seeing a posting for bandleaders on the Festival Management Committee (FMC) website prompted Grant to apply.
“I wrote a business plan based on the work I did with the festival over many years,” the Oakwood Collegiate Institute graduate pointed out. “I went into the meeting with the plan and my story.”
There was another reason for Grant wanting to becoming more immersed in carnival.
Feeling weighed down by workplace stress, the registered nurse was seeking an outlet to free up herself.
“I have been a nurse for 24 years and, as time goes by, I am losing my love for it because of the politics,” she said. “I love helping people, but I can’t deal with that. The only time I feel free is when I am making costumes. There is something exciting about just having an idea and bringing it to fruition. Having your business also gives you a sense of emancipation as you are not playing by others rules.”
To have a section is one thing.
To be a bandleader is quite a big leap as Grant quickly found out.
She said the caustic remarks from other bandleaders were intense.
“Why you have to identify yourself as Jamaican and what do Jamaicans know about Carnival?” Grant said they inquired. “When I asked for help, they agreed. Once we left that meeting and I made a call, there was no answer. I also found out that my vision and how I see things is not the same as them. Some of them are combative while I am a collaborative person. I want to hear what you are coming with and work with you to achieve that goal. It seems these guys just want to fight all the time.”
Renting equipment for the Grand Parade was also challenging.
She claims she was overcharged on a few occasions.
“To rent a sound system for my truck, the price I was quoted from people in the Black community was way above what they were charging other bandleaders,” said Grant. “Other bandleaders told me that was not the price they were charged. I had to go to Long & McQuade.”
Without support from some bandleaders, Grant trudges on.
Band leader Johanna Grant (third from left) with section leaders Cayla Carroll (l), Tracy Grant, Charnell Pierre and Angelica Mayler (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“They are not doing anything that I can’t deal with because there are always people fighting you in the nursing profession,” she said. “You have to dot your i’s and cross your t’s. You make one wrong move and there is someone waiting to show you up.”
Grant is one of four women bandleaders in this year’s Carnival.
The others are Celena Seusahai of Tribal Knights, Candice Dixon of SugaCayne and Sharon Niles of Lux Carnival that is making its inaugural appearance.
