'It's a day we can be very proud:' Pittsburgh celebrates Grand Jubilee Juneteenth Parade
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - People paraded through parts of the city for the Grand Jubilee Juneteenth Parade, one of the most anticipated events of the Western Pennsylvania Juneteenth Celebration is the annual parade!
Hundreds of people and dozens of organizations were part of the parade that started at Freedom Corner in the Hill District and ended at Point State Park Downtown.
"Juneteenth is our day of freedom, and it's a day we can be very proud," said Emma Lucas-Darby, President of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Alpha Alpha Omega Chapter.
"[It] lets people know how long we've come as a country and how far we have to go," said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.
Paraders were celebrating the importance of Juneteenth, along with a piece of Pittsburgh's history.
The parade was a re-enactment of the 1870 Jubilee of Freemen Parade in Pittsburgh. It was a celebration of the passage of the 15th amendment, which granted black men the right to vote, and the 13th amendment, which marked the end of slavery.
A co-grand marshal of the parade, Jacqueline Hamer Flakes, is the daughter of civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer who fought for voting and women's rights in the Mississippi Delta.
"This is a beautiful celebration because just thinking about everyone I've been introduced to today, most are saying it's because of your mom that I was able to do this, I was able to run for this position or I am in this position so it's awesome to see and hearing all that," said Hamer Flakes.
Mayor Gainey was excited to be in the parade. He said he hopes people take away two things from Juneteenth this year.
"The impact the slavery had then and today, while we deal with some of the racism we've seen an uptick, and a lot of hate crimes in this country, having a better understanding of that and two, just celebrating culture, at the end of the day, we're all Americans, it's always good to celebrate one another," Mayor Gainey said.
This was the 6th annual parade, and it's expected to keep growing.
"It's good to see that the crowd has increased over the years and many organizations have joined," said Mary Evans, a co-grand marshal of the parade, she's also a member of B-PEP.
"We have to continue that tradition and make sure we have the lineage and the heritage so everyone can understand, this day is important to us. This is ours that we should recognize," said Lucas-Darby.