The Tribune

THE Genesis Junkanoo Organisation will introduce a new level of community involvement, cooperation and youth empowerment to the Junkanoo world as it launches with a focus on “community” and “change”.

The group, whose title sponsor is FYP’s The Builder’s Mall, call themselves the “Warhawks of Change” as they aim to better the lives of their members and their communities.

“In Junkanoo, everyone can beat a drum and everyone can paste. But we’re trying to do more than just win on Bay Street. We’re trying to win in the community. We want to help those, particularly the young ones, who need focus and direction. We have a young, vibrant team of professionals who come from different sectors of our society and who love Junkanoo. But they also want to give back. Genesis will allow them to do just that,” said Shaune Adderley, chairman of Genesis.

The majority of the Genesis team came from the Shell Saxon Superstars.

Members left the A-­Category group over concerns that it would not incorporate innovative ideas and structure.

Genesis will make its Bay Street debut during the 2015 Boxing Day Junkanoo Parade where members will enter the B-­Category.

“Genesis is an organisation that is really going to impact the inner-­city communities. That’s really our goal. Junkanoo is bigger than Bay Street. It has a purpose,” said the group’s vice-­chairman, Jamiko Dean.

“This is all about taking care of our members. In the past the focus of a lot of the group’s (attention) was really on Bay Street and not the members.

“So this is really about a new generation expressing their ideas without being rejected. But at the same time, we’re going to take Junkanoo by storm.”