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Juneteenth parade launches H-F celebration of emancipation

The first H-F Juneteenth parade drew 22 groups and more than 400 marchers, cheerleaders, acrobats, step dancers and baton twirlers to downtown Flossmoor on Saturday, June 18.

The Juneteenth parade begins on Sterling Avenue in Flossmoor
just south of Flossmoor Road.
(Eric Crump/H-F Chronicle)

The parade participants had a near-perfect day for the event, with temperatures in the mid-60s when they stepped off at 9 a.m. under a cloudless sky.

You Matter 2 CEO and festival curator Destiny Watson said organizers decided to add a parade to the celebration to help bring more attention to Juneteenth, which still new as a state and national holiday, although African American communities have observed it since just after the Civil War.

“We decided to do a parade because we wanted to find a way to get Juneteenth more visible, because people are still learning about it,” she said.

Juneteenth originated with the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved people there that the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in 1863, and the Civil War was over.

Baton twirlers from Classy Ladies of Excellence in Matteson march
in the Juneteenth parade on Saturday.
(Quincy Crump/H-F Chronicle)(

The Flossmoor parade also provided an opportunity to increase participation in the Juneteenth event and bring more people together.

“We wanted to find a way to highlight other groups in the community,” Watson said. “It’s really just a good way to bring the community together to enjoy each other’s company.”

The second annual H-F Juneteenth festival will start at 11 a.m. Sunday at Homewood-Flossmoor High School, 999 Kedzie Ave. in Flossmoor.

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