A Legacy Born on the Parade Route
For Founder and Executive Director Bernisha Thomas, Carnival has never been just a seasonal celebration, it is a lifelong anchor of identity, resilience, and family legacy. Introduced to Carnival at just three years old by her mother and raised in the rhythm of pan yards with her father, Bernisha’s childhood summers were defined by the magic of mas.
When her mother passed away when Bernisha was just seven years old, Carnival became her sacred bridge of connection, a living tribute to her mother’s love, culture, and spirit. Her mother was the quintessential ‘parade mom,’ packing snacks, repairing costumes on the go, and teaching her children that Carnival wasn’t just a party: it was their life and their culture.
By age 10, Bernisha was sitting in mas camps, watching master artisans bend wire and build costumes. What she saw, she recreated. Over 33 years, her journey evolved from young masquerader to dedicated volunteer, section leader, and mother passing the exact same magic down to her own children.
As Carnival grew globally, Bernisha recognized a critical gap: while young people loved the vibrant costumes and music, many were growing up without knowing the profound history behind them.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 1700s, Carnival was created as a triumphant act of freedom and resistance. Enslaved Africans used their own dance, self-made costumes, music, and folklore to celebrate their humanity and culture, a powerful declaration that ‘you don’t have to invite us to your party, because we can create our own.’
Bernisha realized that without intentional education, our community risked being one or two generations removed from losing the art form entirely, allowing the deep cultural roots and the technical ‘recipes’ of wire-bending, costume engineering, and storytelling to be overrun by modern commercialization.
To bridge this gap, Bernisha founded The Junior Jump Up Company, an innovative educational ecosystem and operational bridge designed for children and youth ages 2 to 25, educators, families, community hubs, and mas bands.
We are an independent, dual-incorporated non-profit organization dedicated to passing down these sacred artistic recipes through structured, professional frameworks.
Whether a toddler is taking their first steps in a Moko Minis circle, a teenager is engineering their first wire frame, or a young adult is managing a section budget, they are doing far more than playing mas. They are standing tall in their roots, honoring the ancestors, and ensuring our culture lives forever.
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