Joeshenique, a photo by Christopher Porché West – A Studio On Desire on Flickr.

The Power of the Needle and Thread

Back somewhere very deep in a New Orleans neighborhood a man hunches over canvas stretched on a rough wooden frame. A cheap gooseneck lamp focuses a circle of light on a small area of the canvas, illuminating penciled lines which only he understands. His knowing fingers are busy pushing needle and thread through the canvas to attach tiny chalk beads. Within easy reach are thousands of beads in dozens of colors, handy for his selection. Beads are strung, sewn point to point in the design outline and then fixed with minute stitches across the string. The work is tedious. It’s later than he wants to think about. Everybody’s gone to bed. But, he’s got to sew.

This man is a Black Mardi Gras Indian. He’s creating a beaded picture patch that will be one of many pictures on his “suit” this year. In his mind he can see the whole suit—-what he’ll look like coming down the street on Mardi Gras. He knows the color of his suit, what story will be told in each patch, how his ribbons and ruffles will be placed, and how the plumes, feathers, marabou and fluff will float around him. He’ll be pretty, all right. Just about the prettiest Indian in town and, “Ain’t gonna to be nobody” that can touch him. He has the power. The power of the needle and thread.

If you ask the man where the ideas for his patch designs come from, you’ll get some kind of vague and not too informative answer: “It just comes from in my head.” But, if the man likes you and he trusts you, he’ll tell you about his dream or his vision. It may sound something like this: “I saw myself walking down the street. My family was all around me. My friends were there. My gang was strong. We were on fire! It was a beautiful day—-not to cold, just cool. A breeze was blowing the leaves around in the trees and the early flowers were just poppin’ out. I saw a blue jay; then a cardinal; then I saw all the birds just flying around and singing purely sweet songs. This suit is a suit of peace and harmony with our world. It says what we should be doing to protect what we have.” He’s creating this suit to say that. And only he has the power to express that vision. He does it in the Mardi Gras Indian way—- he sews. It’s his power and his power alone. It’s the power of his needle and thread. You can find that power growing in a small circle of light, later than night, way back somewhere deep in a New Orleans neighborhood