Krewe of ALLA takes a step toward new time slot, and will crown first Black royalty (2024)

The Krewe of ALLA will crown its first Black king and queen in time for Carnival 2025, the captain of the 92-year-old krewe told members of a Council committee on Wednesday.

Gian Durand and former City Council member James Carter will hold the titles.

“I’m so honored to be the queen this year and we’re so excited about riding on Wednesday night,” said Durand, a non-practicing lawyer and owner of a home health care company, who has been an ALLA member for two years.

The announcement came as ALLA captain Adam Strickland stated his case for moving the venerable parade from its customary spot on the first Friday of the official Carnival season to the Wednesday before Mardi Gras, a slot formerly occupied by the controversial Krewe of Nyx.

In May, the City Council cut the Nyx parade from the official Carnival lineup, citing violations of the Mardi Gras code and the procession’s general lack of quality.

Strickland said the first Friday of the schedule has become so crowded that the parade rolls until well past midnight, taxing riders and city services. So when the Wednesday spot opened, he saw the possible move as a "win-win" for the krewe and the city.

Durand said that after Strickland invited her to be queen, he also asked her to choose her king. She selected Carter.

Durand was a former member of Nyx, the all-female superkrewe that lost most of its membership in 2020, after captain Julie Lea posted the slogan “All Lives Matter” on a Nyx social media account.

To many members of the krewe, the message seemed to be dismissive of the Black Lives Matter movement that was sweeping the country after the murder of George Floyd. Durand said that the controversy was the “deciding factor” in her leaving the krewe.

Durand said that as a child she hoped that someday she’d be a Carnival queen, but as she grew up, she realized that the opportunities for Black women were few. She said she currently belongs to several krewes, but ALLA is her favorite.

”They are so diverse,” she said, “they represent to me what Mardi Gras should look like, where everyone can live out their dreams.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council’s joint Governmental Affairs/Quality of Life committee voted unanimously to permit ALLA to move into the Wednesday spot, following the relatively small Druids parade.

Council member JP Morrell said that if ALLA had not come forward requesting the change, the city may have eliminated Wednesday from the official Carnival calendar.

The final decision to allow ALLA to move will be made by a vote of the City Council during a regular session, as soon as Thursday. Since six of the seven council members already voted in favor of the move on Wednesday, it’s very likely ALLA will get its wish.

Asked if he was aware of any resistance to the move that could come into play on Thursday, Strickland said that “nothing’s come across our radar to indicate any opposition.”

Founded in 1932, the co-ed Krewe of ALLA was named for the neighborhood where it began: Algiers, Louisiana. The parade moved from the West Bank to the St. Charles Avenue route a decade ago, at the same time that the krewe began accepting female members.

“We are a more open, welcoming and diverse club than we used to be,” Strickland said. “That’s something we’re very, very proud of.”

Gian Durand’s name was misspelled in the first version of this story.