Senator Stewart-Cousins Leads White Plains Juneteenth Parade
By Silas White
On June 10, the City of White Plains held its 13th Annual Juneteenth Parade.
Juneteenth is one of the oldest known celebrations commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The day was first commemorated in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to celebrate the day Union soldiers, led by General Gordon Granger, shared the news of the Civil War’s end and the enactment of then President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation issued on January 1, 1863, to the last state in the south. The Emancipation Proclamation changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million enslaved people in the designated areas of the South from slave to free.
New York State officially declared June 19 to be known as Juneteenth Freedom Day in 2003, and celebration of the holiday has been growing at an increasing rate since Texas recognized Juneteenth as a state holiday in 1980, according to Juneteenth.com.
Hundreds attended the Juneteenth Parade and Celebration in White Plains Saturday, which started on Mamaroneck Avenue and Old Mamaroneck Road and ended at City Hall on Main Street. Marchers in the parade included the Woodlands High School Band, several floats, churches, sororities, the White Plains/Greenburg branch of the NAACP, and many other organizations. The parade’s Grand Marshall was New York State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers).
“It’s an honor to lead and celebrate this year’s Juneteenth Parade in White Plains,” said Senator Stewart-Cousins in a written statement. “Juneteenth is a sweet celebration of pride and freedom. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on the legacy of our ancestors, who fought tirelessly for their freedom and, with dignity and resilience, broke the bonds of slavery to ensure their children thrived. Juneteenth is a significant time in American history that reminds us how important it is to continue fighting for a world in which racial equality is fully realized.”
Following the parade, the celebration at White Plains Library Plaza lasted from noon to 5 p.m. and featured live music as well as dozens of vendors selling art, jewelry, clothing, food, and more. There was also a bouncy castle for children.
Heather Miller, president of the White Plains Juneteenth Heritage Committee and Executive Director of the Thomas H. Slater Center in White Plains, gave a speech during the celebration. She expressed gratitude to the crowd for coming, and thanked those involved in making the celebration happen.
“This looks beautiful, I love this,” she said. “It looks like an African village.”
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