Important tradition returns to Buffalo as Juneteenth Festival parade fills the streets

African drums filled Buffalo's Genesee Street Saturday as the Juneteenth Festival parade approached the viewing stage.

Black empowerment chants, live music and dancing routines brought spectators from all over the country to Genesee Street, Best Street and Fillmore Avenue, where the parade route traveled through Martin Luther King Jr. Park.

Spectators and marchers alike screamed "I love Black people!" and "I'm Black and and I'm proud!" in unison, commemorating the June 19 holiday.

Juneteenth in Buffalo

The Juneteenth parade's return after a two-year hiatus appeared to be just what the doctor ordered for the city's east side, still in mourning from last month's racist mass killing.

James Brown's "Say It Loud" blasted from speakers everywhere. Parents snapped photos and video of their children performing with the Royal Rockettes and the Crusaders. Onlookers applauded the many pro-Black organizations marching the streets.

The Afro-American Police Association was a spectacle at the parade with their marching and singing. Wegmans employees held signs that read "Stop hate. End racism. Choose love." Mayor Byron Brown, with Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Kathy Hochul, paraded with red, black and green Pan-African flags.

Buffalo's Juneteenth history

When it comes to preserving Black culture, Buffalo has been ahead of the curve. While Juneteenth didn't entered many people's lexicon until recent years, Buffalo has recognized it since 1976.

Thanks to B.U.I.L.D. of Buffalo, William Gaiter, Judson Price and longtime Buffalo president Juneteenth Claudia Sims, the holiday has been a Buffalo staple for almost 50 years, beginning as a response to America's plans for a bicentennial celebration.

The emancipation of enslaved people officially occurred June 19, 1865, but it took  George Floyd's killing in 2020 for Juneteenth to be recognized more throughout the country. Some cities still don't recognize it.

But Buffalonians do. Blacks look forward to the Juneteenth festival every year, from the floats and performances to the vendors along MLK Jr. Park.

Buffalo's Jewelean "Jewel" Magee was a child when the city held it's first Juneteenth festival. Her parents didn't allow her to attend the parade then. But Magee remembered when the festival began at MLK Jr. Park, with a huge carnival.

"It was off the chain!" said Magee, who interned at the Democrat and Chronicle in the 1980s.

'Shock of reality'

Vietnam veteran Jerry C. Bowman acknowledged how important Juneteenth is to Buffalo

Especially now, after the May 14 tragedy at the Tops supermarket on Jefferson Avenue — or the Black people's Main Street — where a racist white male with tactical gear and an assault weapon allegedly killed 10 Black women and men, and injured three more people.

"I think we got a shock of reality, that we have to watch out for each other and pass this knowledge on," Bowman said.

Bowman is a 75-year-old Buffalo native who graduated from the city's East High School. He's attended every parade since it began on Jefferson 46 years ago. It was the first big event for Blacks to look forward to.

"This was a shock to the system," Bowman said.

With Amvets Post No. 65, Bowman and others passed out free books at the Juneteenth festival. They called it the Johnetta R. Cole Black Book Lending Library. Their goal was to give access to Black books and Black authors during these dark, racist times that penetrated Buffalo's east side last month

"This critical race theory is erasing what these people are talking about, so we're giving it back," Bowman said. "We can't do everything, but one thing we can do is pass this knowledge on."

Email Marquel Slaughter at mslaughter1@gannett.com and follow his Twitter @MarquelSports.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Juneteenth parade in Buffalo NY returns, tradition fills the streets