‘It’s a great day.’ Merced’s first Juneteenth Parade celebration draws large crowd
A large crowd marched down Martin Luther King Jr. Way on Saturday morning as close to 100 people took part in the first Juneteenth Parade in Merced.
The parade included fire engines, classic cars, motorcycles and people holding banners and flags as they made their way from the Merced Theatre to McNamara Park to celebrate Juneteenth.
Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the U.S. after the Civil War, has been commemorated annually for over a century.
“Juneteenth is an American holiday,” said Merced resident and local NAACP chapter member Tamara Cobb, who helped organize Saturday’s parade. “I wanted to celebrate it this year and make sure that everybody understands our history, knows the correct history and how proud we are.”
The holiday’s roots go back to June 19, 1865. Although President Abraham Lincoln presented the Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, it wasn’t until then that Black slaves in Texas were freed and slavery in the U.S. finally ended.
Black communities in Texas and beyond have celebrated Juneteenth since, according to the NAACP.
It wasn’t until last year, though, that President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, officially recognizing it as a federal holiday.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for everybody to celebrate Juneteenth,” said NAACP Merced County Branch President Allen Brooks.
“The main reason we’re out here, as the preacher once said, is to celebrate the freedom of African American people. We celebrate the Fourth of July as the independence of the country and we celebrate Juneteenth as the independence of all the people.”
Parade participants gathered near the Merced Theatre on Saturday morning. Cobb, Brooks and others addressed the crowd before the parade started.
Dallas’ Judah Celeste, 13, sang the Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
The parade was attended by many local politicians, city leaders and school board members.
“It’s a great day, it’s fun,” said Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto. “It’s fun to be out here, it’s fun to celebrate Juneteenth, which truly is as we said earlier a quintessential American holiday celebrating freedom and it’s fun to honor that. It’s fun also to honor our Black community. There are so many great people in our African American community.”
The parade made its way down Martin Luther King Jr. Way, turned right at 11th Street and then made it’s way to McNamara Park for a Juneteenth celebration.
There were booths set up at the park for people to get COVID-19 vaccines and testing, there were arts and crafts booths, inflatable jump houses for kids and other booths set up by groups like the NAACP.
“It’s great to be a part of the first one in our community,” said Merced resident Jermaine Paster. “It’s great to start where we get support from downtown and finish at the park, which is the heartbeat of Merced. It’s great to see so many people here. Do you have to be African American to celebrate? No, you don’t. You have to be about what our country stands for.”
Cobb said she was thrilled with the number of people who came to celebrate the holiday and the parade.
“Look at the people who came out,” Cobb said. “It’s everyone, complexion, race, everybody. I don’t know half the people that came to support but I like it.”
Many groups like the local NAACP chapter, Positive Brothers United and the Black Parallel School Board worked together to help plan the parade and Juneteenth celebration.
The weekend will close out with another community park day on June 19 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Joe Herb Park.
“I’ve been excited, man,” Brooks said. “It was a great turnout. Our first annual parade and we have some nice cars, some nice bikes, some great groups there and every year it’s just going to get better so I’m elated.”
