‘Celebrate who we are’: Juneteenth parade draws crowd to KC’s 18th and Vine district
Dance teams waving shimmering pompoms performed to a thumping beat as they made their way through the crowded streets of Kansas City’s 18th and Vine district during the JuneteenthKC Cultural Parade on Saturday.
The annual parade is organized by JuneteenthKC, a local nonprofit organization.
The Historic Jazz District was lined with tents and the sidewalks decorated with chalk as kids blew bubbles from the curbs, waiting for the parade to reach them.
Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. kicked off the event as this year’s grand marshal, and was followed by representatives from organizations including Suburban Balance, a nonprofit providing educational and cultural opportunities to suburban kids of color.
Families gathered along the parade route cheering as firefighters handed out plastic fire helmets to children and firetrucks blared their sirens. Music played from Corvettes driving slowly through the parade and people stood on the edge of the curb to get a closer look at the decked-out Cadillacs rolling through.
A large group wearing bright green shirts representing The Hope Center KC, a nonprofit that works to develop east Kansas City through community partnerships and advocacy, also gathered.
Hip-hop and dance teams including Reign KC, Code Red Dance Team and The Kansas City Dynamites could be seen from blocks away performing in sparkly costumes. Their routines were met with such applause that it countered the music blaring from nearby speakers.
Delta Sigma Theta sorority members and alumni wore all red, one of the sorority’s colors, and waved.
For Angela Richardson, a sorority alumnae, it was her first time walking in the parade.
Richardson said it was a great experience to be able to participate and for the community to acknowledge the event.
She said Juneteenth started smaller in Kansas City and it has felt freeing to see it get bigger over the years.
Asha Zaheed sat in a lawn chair and got up to cheer for each group passing. She said she has always celebrated Juneteenth, but it has been a joy to see it grow in Kansas City.
In the past few years, COVID-19 has hindered much celebration, but Zaheed said everything is bigger and better this year.
“It has been more bright, more vibrant with everybody’s Black pride that we are celebrating,” Zaheed said. “Especially with everything that is going on in the world, we can’t have too much Black pride.”
“It’s just a time to celebrate who we are. To be together, to have camaraderie, to celebrate all these Black businesses, all these Black clubs and all these chances for Black youth to get into different things. It’s excellent, I just love it.”
The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when a Union general arrived in Galveston, Texas, to tell the community that President Abraham Lincoln had declared the Emancipation Proclamation two years before and slaves were free.
Within weeks, 50,000 U.S. troops occupied Texas and continued fighting against slavery in the state.
The long celebrated holiday was first brought to Kansas City in 1980 by Horace Peterson III, who founded the Black Archives of Mid-America in 1974.
The JuneteenthKC Heritage Festival will take place June 18 in the 18th and Vine district and feature music, vendors and other entertainment.
Other events including art, museum exhibits and other parades are taking place across the Kansas City area this month.
This story was originally published June 4, 2022 at 4:28 PM.