That is how Zulu began, as the many stories go...

Years of extensive research by Zulu's Historian staff seem to indicate that Zulu's beginning was much more complicated than that. The earliest signs of organization came from the fact that the majority of these men belonged to a Benevolent Aid Society. Benevolent societies were the first forms of insurance in the Black community where, for a small amount of dues, members received financial help when sick or financial aid when burying deceased members.

Conversations and interviews with older members also indicate that in that era the city was divided into wards, and each ward had its own group or "Club." The Tramps were one such group. After seeing the skit, they retired to their meeting place (a room in the rear of a restaurant/bar in the 1100 block of Perdido Street), and emerged as Zulus. This group was probably made up of members from the Tramps, the Benevolent Aid Society and other ward- based groups.

While the "Group" marched in Mardi Gras as early as 1901, their first appearance as Zulus came in 1909, with William Story as King. The group wore raggedy pants, and had a Jubilee-singing quartet in front of and behind King Story. His costume of "lard can" crown and "banana stalk" scepter has been well-documented. The Kings following William Story, (William Crawford - 1910, Peter Williams - 1912, and Henry Harris - 1914), were similarly attired.

1915 heralded the first use of floats, constructed on a spring wagon, using dry good boxes. The float was decorated with palmetto leaves and moss and carried four Dukes along with the King. That humble beginning gave rise to the lavish floats Mardi Gras revelers see in the Zulu parade today.

On September 20, 1916, in the notarial office of Gabriel Fernandez, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club was incorporated. Twenty-two of the organization's officers and members signed the first official document.

The Geddes and Moss Funeral Home, located on Washington Avenue, played an integral part in Zulu's beginning, and has continued to do so throughout the years. The first official toast of King Zulu and his Queen is held at this establishment each year.

Zulus were not without their controversies, either. In the 1960's during the height of Black awareness, it was unpopular to be a Zulu. Dressing in a grass skirt and donning a black face were seen as being demeaning. Large numbers of Black organizations protested against the Zulu organization, and its membership dwindled to approximately 16 men. James Russell, a longtime member, served as president in this period, and is credited with holding the organization together and slowly bringing Zulu back to the forefront.

Vincent Stripling can look back and remember with clarity the days when the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club's showing on Mardi Gras Day was considerably less polished than the mind-blowing display Carnival revelers see today.

In 1968, Zulu's route took them on two major streets; namely, St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street, for the first time in the modern era. Heretofore, to see the Zulu parade, you had to travel the so-called "back streets" of the Black neighborhoods. The segregation laws of this period contributed to this, and Zulu tradition also played a part. In those days, neighborhood bars sponsored certain floats and, consequently, the floats were obligated to pass those bars. Passing meant stopping, as the bars advertised that the "Zulus will stop here!" Once stopped at a sponsoring bar, it was often difficult to get the riders out of the establishment, so the other floats took off in different directions to fulfill their obligations.

"Zulu has come a long way," joked Stripling, who was born in Faubourg Tremé but now calls uptown New Orleans home. "I can remember four or five  floats going different ways on Claiborne Avenue, one turning on Orleans (Ave.) going one way, one turning on Orleans going the other way, one going straight up Claiborne. It was just so unorganized back then."

Back then, Mardi Gras floats were pulled by mules, Stripling recalled. "They used to pull them by mules, they weren't hooked to tractors in those days," he told The Louisiana Weekly in 2009. "That was the same mules that used to pull the garbage trucks. They didn't have garbage trucks like you have today. You had a garbage truck that was open and guys would work both sides of the street. The mule would pull the truck and stop, they'd stop and throw the trash on and move from house to house. Those same mules doubled as tractors during Mardi Gras. They were the first tractors. It used to be something else."

Stripling, a Joseph A. Craig Elementary School and Joseph S. Clark High School graduate who joined Zulu in 1968, remembers a time when Zulu's membership was considerably smaller than the 500 or so active members who make it one of the city's most highly regarded Carnival organizations. "When I joined Zulu I think there were something like 40 members," he recalled, "and you'd see 20 during the year and you'd see the other 20 maybe about a month before Mardi Gras; that's when they'd show up, to get on those floats."

Zulu has grown tremendously over the years. This continual growth is credited to the members for their love, loyalty and dedication to this organization. In 1978, the organization opened its doors to their new home located at 722 North Broad Street. The two-story frame building houses a lounge downstairs for members and guests to enjoy themselves, and administrative offices upstairs. In addition, the "Walter Coulon Memorabilia Distribution Center" is located at 734 N. Broad Street, which houses more than 100 items for members, visitors, and float riders to purchase throws or replenish their collection. This building was named after deceased member Walter Coulon who for many years was the custodian of the organization's memorabilia.

Another big change was "the upgrade of the floats that we get from Blaine Kern now" and the number of floats, he said. "I think one year we had nine floats," Stripling said. "We were big-time. We thought we were Endymion or something."

Stripling served as Zulu's Governor character in 1975 and as its Witch Doctor in 1977.

Stripling said there was a time when the Zulus only had two musical participants in the early-morning Fat Tuesday parade. "We used to have two bands - Olympia Brass Bands and these kids from East St. John," he said. "They'd come down every year and march for us. That was the only marching high school band we had in the parade and the Olympia Brass Band led the Zulu parade for years."

Stripling told The Louisiana Weekly last year that he is also amazed by the rise in the quality of the costumes Zulu members wear and the cost of parading. "The first year I joined Zulu I could get a case of coconuts for like $10 and that was 30 in a box," he said.

Those same coconuts cost a pretty penny in 2009, he said.

Of all the throws to rain down from the many floats in the parades during carnival, the Zulu coconut or "Golden Nugget" is the most sought after. The earliest reference to the coconut appears to be about 1910 when the coconuts were given from the floats in their natural "hairy" state. Some years later there is a reference to Lloyd Lucus, "the sign painter," scraping and painting the coconuts. This, in all likelihood, was the forerunner to the beautifully decorated coconuts revelers see today.

With the proliferation of lawsuits from people alleging injury from thrown coconuts, the organization was unable to get insurance coverage in 1987. So that year, the honored tradition was suspended. After much lobbying, the Louisiana Legislature passed SB188, aptly dubbed the "Coconut Bill," which excluded the coconut from liability for alleged injuries arising from the coconuts handed from the floats. On July 8, 1988, then-Governor Edwin Edwards signed the bill into law.

Zulu community involvement has been well received and documented over the years. During the Christmas season, the organization gives Christmas baskets to needy families, participates in the Adopt-a-School program (where one elementary school was named after one of its deceased members  (Morris F.X. Jeff, Sr. Elementary School; formerly McDonogh #31) contributes to the Southern University Scholarship Fund, and donates funds and time to other community organizations. The group added a Toy Drive to its many community outreach activities in the Fall of 2008 and added a Coat Drive for children last Fall.

Zulu celebrated its centennial anniversary with several major coups including the selection of one of its former queens, Desiree Glapion Rogers, and the presentation of a commemorative Zulu coconut to President Barack Obama - the nation's first Black president - last year.

Zulu members say the organization is proud of its standing in the local community, but also takes pride in its national and international standing. The Zulu organization has been the subject of numerous television documentaries and newsprint and magazine articles. King Zulu 1949, Louis Armstrong, graced the pages of Time magazine that year. Essence devoted a full half-hour segment of their weekly television series to Zulu's impact on Carnival. Hordes of feature stories and photo essays have been done by international publications.

The Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club Inc., is the everyman club. The membership is composed of men from all walks of life - from laborers, City Mayor, City Councilmen, and State Legislators, to United States Congressman, educators, and men of other professions.

Zulu's history is illustrious and at times colorful, and could fill volumes. It is also continual, with chapters being written constantly. This is an attempt to afford onlookers and outsiders insight on who and what Zulu members are.

About three decades ago, Vincent Stripling brought in his brother, Ike Wheeler, who now serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club.

Stripling remembers a time when there wasn't as much mingling among the races on Fat Tuesday. "It looked like Blacks were in one spot and whites were in another spot," he said in 2009. "When you got to Canal Street, from D.H. Holmes (Department Store) going towards the river were white folks because that was right there by the Boston Club. Going toward the lake, that was Black folks because the parade used to turn and go to the Municipal Auditorium. It used to turn off Rampart Street and to St. Ann Street and the white folks would be out there waiting to start their ball, because their ball and the (Zulu) parade was the same night. They'd be out in front of the auditorium waiting for the parade to pass. That's the only place where you saw white folks because the parade used to break up at the auditorium. All of the parades used to break up at the auditorium back then."

"Mardi Gras wasn't created for Blacks in this city," Clarence Becknell, a former school principal and current Zulu historian, told The New York Times in 2009. "We weren't part of the plan. But you've got this big affair going on, and you've got to do something."

In 1949 Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong reigned as King Zulu and graced the front page of Time magazine, giving the Zulu organization notoriety and a worldwide introduction. This started other Mardi Gras Krewes to have celebrities reign as a monarch. In 1973, his wife, Lucille Armstrong, was honored by serving as Queen Zulu.

The beginning of the 1990s found the Zulu organization preparing to introduce to the public another item for Zulu followers to add to their collection of Zulu memorabilia, "The Zulu Mardi Gras Poster." The posters, available in silk screen and print, highlights a Zulu Character each year and have limited editions. They were originally produced for 10 years. However, their popularity and public demand convinced the Zulu organization to continue production of these coveted posters.

In 1993 the Zulu organization established a partnership with the Audubon Institute of New Orleans. Spearheaded by George Rainey, Zulu board member and chairman of the Fundraiser Committee, the Zulu organization and the Audubon Institute introduced to the city of New Orleans "The Zulu Lundi Gras Festival." The Festival is held the Monday before Mardi Gras in Woldenberg Park along the Riverfront. The festival consists of local professional music entertainers and some of New Orleans' most acclaimed chefs and caterers, who provide tasty Crescent City cuisine. The festival proved to be very successful and has grown tremendously in succeeding years, attracting more than 10,000 visitors and locals and adding a much-needed financial boost to the economy. Zulu recognized the attendance of many children and developed activities for them to enjoy by creating a "Children's Village" that offered young people music, art, poetry and drama.

Although King Zulu is crowed at the annual Cotillion each year, Roy E. Glapion Jr. was crowned at his bedside. He requested to be crowned before the Coronation due to his health and the Board of Directors and membership granted his request. Dr. Myron E. Moorhead, King Zulu 1999, crowned Roy E. Glapion Jr. King Zulu 2000 at his bedside before his wife, children and the Board of Directors. Several days later, he passed away. Melvin Armour, successor to the throne, relinquished his right to reign as King Zulu 2000 in honor of Roy E. Glapion Jr. However, he was successful the ensuing year and reigned as King Zulu 2001. The organization placed a huge portrait of Roy E. Glapion Jr. on the Zulu King's Float for the 2000 Zulu Parade.

Vincent Stripling described preparations for the Zulu parade as "a very exciting time. Like right now, trying to get ready for this Ball, packing stuff at the front door to leave out Friday night, making sure you don't forget anything."

Asked if he had to make a list like he was evacuating for a hurricane, Stripling joked, "Man, this is worst than Katrina."

"Something that amazes me every year is when that parade turns off of Claiborne Avenue onto Jackson Avenue and off of Jackson onto St. Charles Avenue, it's something that I can't explain," he told The Louisiana Weekly. "It's something that I can't explain. You have to witness it, you have to do it in order to feel it. It's almost like going through a wave in the lake but it's like going through a wave of people with a lot of screaming and hollering. It's something that you have to experience for yourself.

"As many years as I've done it, those two turns in that parade, it really pumps you up. You can't explain it to somebody, you have to witness it to get that feeling."

Stripling recalled how former Zulu King Elliott Bagneris learned that lesson. "I told him, 'Man, when you turn onto St. Charles from Jackson, you won't believe it,'" he said. "And he came back to me after the first year he rode and told me, 'You know, I've been to the bullfights in Spain. When they kill the bull, that's one of the highlights of a bullfight and everybody gets charged up. But I've never been charged up like when that float turns onto St. Charles.' People will tell you that year in and year out. It's just like electricity. Something shocks you."

Stripling has a few ideas about why Zulu is a crowd favorite among Mardi Gras revelers. "I think it's one of the most unique parades, something you won't see in other parades," he told The Louisiana Weekly. "You won't see guys in blackface and grass skirts giving out coconuts. That coconut is the thing that nobody else has. Everybody has beads, everybody has doubloons. Everybody has their special throw. But nobody has that one thing, that coconut with that painted 'Z' on it decorated. Nobody can take that from Zulu. And they've been doing it for so long that this is what people come here for really. They can get beads any night of Carnival season, but that coconut - that thing that you take time to clean, paint and decorate - is a prized possession."

King Zulu 2010 is Jimmie L. Felder, a former student of George Washington Carver Se­nior High School, Delgado Com­munity College and South­ern University at New Orleans. He has two sisters, Claudia Til­mon and the late Gloria "Faye" White.

Jimmie Felder is a member of the Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, where the Rev. Fred Luter serves as senior pastor. A decorated Vietnam War veteran, he  was employed by Folgers Coffee Company and Washington National Insurance Company. He is also a retired manager of 31 years for the United States Postal Service and a small business owner.

Jimmie Felder is an active member of the Prince Hall Mason New Tuscan Lodge #5 and  and Shriners Platta Temple #15. An active and hard-working member of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club since 1982,  he has served as Zulu Governor  (1991) and Big Shot (1995), became an Honorary Member in 2008 is a member of Zulu's Hall of Fame.

His hobbies include playing billiards, bowling, swimming and having a good time. He loves hanging out with the Zulu brothers.

He believes that "No matter how tough things are, if you put your mind to it, work hard and treat people with dignity and respect, you will succeed."

Reigning as Queen Zulu 2010 will be Ilana Felder-Jefferson, graduate of Clifton L. Ganus School and Our Lady f Holy Cross College. She is the daughter of the late Sylvia Smith Felder and has one sister, Kiala L'Oreal Felder-Furr.

Ilana Felder-Jefferson currently works as a Clinical Care Coordinator for Texas-based Evercare, a subsidiary of United Health Care. She and her husband, Stephen Joshua Jefferson, live in Houston, Texas and have two children, Loryn Taylar Jefferson and Stephen Felder Jefferson.

Ilana is a member of the Brook Hollow Baptist Church pastored by the Rev. Ralph Douglas West. She is a member of the National Black Nursing Association and the American Nursing Association.

She feels that she is the person, parent, wife and friend she is today because of the upbringing she received from her loving parents and the wonderful support from her husband, family and friends who were there through the hardest times in her life and the best times of her life.

The entertainment for this year's Zulu Coronation Ball included legendary R&B singers En Vogue and neo-soul crooner Eric Benet and popular New Orleans DJ Captain Charles.

Parading as Zulu's legendary Characters this year will be Dr. Donald Ganier Jr. (Big Shot), Frank Stewart Jr. (Mr. Big Stuff), Neal Johnson (Province Prince), Kevin M. Jones Sr. (Governor), Vincent E. Rogers Sr. (Witch Doctor), Nichollas Spears (Mayor), and Dennis J. Robertson Jr. (Ambassador).

A number of New Orleans Saints players - including Devery Henderson, Tracey Por­ter, Robert Meachem, Marcus Colston and Deuce McAllister - are expected to ride in this year's Zulu parade

A Zulu exhibit featuring the Junior Zulus, Zulu Dukes, Zulu Dune Buggy Group, Zulu Road Warriors Motorcycle Club is currently on display at the Lakeside Shopping Center through February 8. Zulu historian Clarence Becknell says the Zulus have been displaying their rich history in the Metairie mall since 1992 because Lakeside allowed the group to stage an exhibit when no other business or institution in the New Orleans area would.

"Everyone in New Orleans refused us," Becknell told The Louisiana Weekly. "I went to different small boutiques and to practically everybody I possibly could and everybody told me they didn't want it. I was at National Guard and was introduced to Donna Mumphrey, Lakeside's marketing director. When I asked her about doing the display, she was very excited and welcomed us with open arms. Lakeside Shopping Center also donated to our Junior Zulus when they first got started

"We have a permanent commitment to Lakeside because of the support that they gave us when everybody else refused us."

After viewing the Zulu exhibit in Lakeside in 1992, an upset First Lady Mickey Barthelemy, the wife of New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy, contacted the Zulu organization and expressed her disappointment about the Zulu exhibit not being shown in New Orleans. After learning of the difficulty Zulu had experienced in seeking to attain exhibit space in the city, Mrs. Barthelemy made arrangements to have the Zulus display their club's memorabilia on all three floors of Gallier Hall for the 1993 Mayor's Mardi Gras Ball and has been a strong supporter of Zulu's efforts to educate others about its history ever since.

"Mickey Barthelemy and Donna Mumphrey have been two of our biggest supporters," Becknell said.

The 18th Annual Zulu Lundi Gras Festival will take place on Monday, February 15, 2010, in Woldenberg Park along the Mississippi River in the French Quarter.

The festival event will feature local and world -renowned entertainers performing on three stages. Musicians such as Kermit Ruffins, Amanada Shaw and the Cute Guys, Ed Perkins, Rebirth Brass Band, Pinstripe Jazz Band and many more will be providing non-stop music.

The Lundi Gras Festival will add flavor to the day before Fat Tuesday when the 17 food vendors kick up the Cajun aroma of crawfish pie, shrimp creole, filé gumbo, alligator sausage, Jamai­can chicken, crawfish bread, barbeque ribs, seafood pasta, catfish po-boys, peach cobbler, pecan pie, and many more New Orleans delicacies. There are other attractions to wet your festive appetite. Everyone can join in a second line as the Zulu Mardi Gras Carnival Characters parade every hour through the thousands of revelers wearing their colorful flamboyant costumes. Who knows - you may be one of the lucky ones to receive a treasured carnival throw - the Zulu Lundi Gras Coconut! Also, witness the arrival of the Zulu King by U.S. Coast Guard Cutter along with his entourage at 5 p.m.

This article was originally published in the February 15, 2010 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper

Also in the February 8 - February 14, 2010, VOL, LXXX IIII, No. 22 issue, the article which featured the debutantes of 2010 Carnival Pageantry entitled, “Zulu Coronation to visit ‘Travel Destinations of the World,” the parents of debutant Jade Alexanderia Duplessis, were incorrectly identified. Ms. Duplessis is the daughter of Rickie and Sonya Duplessis.
Again, we regret the error.