Mobile Mardi Gras is a royal tradition for this family
Joseph Little, this year's junior king for the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association, ascends to the throne. (Contributed)
A fully embellished, early 19th-century Regency-inspired period costume complete with a 15-foot, fur-lined train might seem an odd wardrobe choice for a typical high school senior, but welcome to Mardi Gras in Mobile.
Joseph Kimble Carr Little, 17, donned the elaborate custom robes – designed and created by Julia Greer Fobes – for his Feb. 19 coronation as the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association’s (MAMGA) 2017 junior king and will wear them again when the MAMGA Mammoth Parade rolls majestically through the Azalea City at 2 p.m. on Fat Tuesday.
And for the Little family, king Joseph’s reign is as much about family and community as it is the pageantry and ceremony accompanying the centuries-old Carnival tradition.
In fact, Joseph Little is second-generation MAMGA royalty, with nearly three dozen family members having participated in the court in some fashion since 1946, when his grandmother Mary Wilson served as first lady-in-waiting, followed one year later by grandfather Wiley N. Butler, who was a MAMGA royal court knight.
Moreover, Little’s train includes replicas of three stacked crowns, representing three members of his family with a rich history of MAMGA participation: his second cousin, Reuben Wilson Jr., reigned as MAMGA’s first teen king in 1962; his aunt, Winifred Irene Little Green, reigned in 1982; and her daughter, Joseph’s cousin Cecile Frances Green, was MAMGA’s first legacy queen in 2014.
“I was actually on the court twice,” said Dr. Walter K. Little Jr., Joseph Little’s father, who in 1967 was a crown bearer before serving as a MAMGA royal court knight in 1982.
The elder Little said he declined several invitations over the years to reign as king – and even passed on an opportunity to serve as grand marshal – because he was worried the substantial time requirements would harm his studies and the launch of his dental practice 25 years ago.
“They were the right decisions at the time, but I do kind of regret it now. (Being king) is a legacy, for sure; however, I’m living vicariously through Joseph right now,” Walter Little said, adding, “I told (Joseph) I wanted him to look like I would have looked, and I think he looks really sharp.”
Incorporated in 1938, the nonprofit MAMGA is composed of prominent businessmen and civic leaders.
MAMGA, formerly the Colored Carnival Association, held its first parade in 1939 and presented its first royal court in 1940. Notable Mobilians who have participated in the annual celebration through the years include former U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman as queen and Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron as grand marshal.
Family pride
Joseph Little’s mother, Carol, said she will “always cherish the way he beamed when he put on his crown and was handed his scepter.”
“When a mother sees her child so joyful and exuberant, the satisfaction is golden,” she said.
Although Carol Little has lived in Mobile since 1995, the former Mobile Municipal Court judge and attorney with Alexander Shunnarah & Associates said she has never quite adjusted to the frantic pace Carnival ushers in each year for her husband’s family.
“It’s nonstop, but there’s absolutely nothing else like it,” she said, adding, “What I like most is that the community comes together. We’re seeing things this year from the court side, but the entire thing is family friendly, and what you see is everybody taking part. There’s so much going on around it, and it gives people a chance to participate who aren’t otherwise part of one of the krewes.”
Her husband took the sentiment even further.
“My mom grew up off (what is now) MLK (Avenue), and the MAMGA parade travels through that neighborhood. As a result, my family always did and still gets together and participates as a family,” Walter Little said. “Now it’s evolved to renting a vacant lot on the parade route, and we’re there all day Monday and Tuesday. We cook out. You see the other families doing the same thing, the people you grew up with. Even my mother, who’s 92, gets in the middle of it.”
A really big deal
King Joseph, himself, is the first to admit he was hesitant when he was first approached last summer about participating in the junior court.
“I’m not really a person who likes the spotlight, so I thought there would be a big adjustment, but I’m really enjoying myself, and it hasn’t been nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I really like getting to meet new people, especially the people of the court and the people of MAMGA I didn’t know before,” he said.
The senior at St. Paul’s Episcopal School, who has earned varsity letters in football and basketball, said the coronation was “much bigger” than he expected, but it’s an experience he wouldn’t trade.
“I can see myself coming back to help the younger king someday,” Little said, noting past king Joseph Roberson mentored him on everything from how to address people and smile to what the correct poses are for the circumstances.
And when it’s all over?
“I’m probably going to write a lot of thank-you notes and catch up on some sleep,” Little said.
