‘This is fabulous.’ Merced celebrates Juneteenth with a downtown parade and festival
A large crowd participated Saturday in a Juneteenth celebration, which included a parade down Main Street in Merced.
The parade included fire engines, classic cars and a police escort as people holding banners and flags made their way from the Merced Theatre to McNamara Park.
“This is fabulous and we’re working our way up to having even more,” said Merced resident and local NAACP chapter member Tamara Cobb, who helped organize Saturday’s parade. “I’m glad people are recognizing Juneteenth. I really like the crowd coming out. We can control it. As we grow it will grow.”
This was the second consecutive year a Juneteenth parade was held in Merced.
Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery in the U.S. after the Civil War, has been commemorated annually for over a century.
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 2021 that President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law, officially recognizing it as a federal holiday.
“This is an American holiday,” Cobb said. “This holiday means everybody is free.”
Prior to the parade, local politicians including state Sen. Anna Caballero, Assemblywoman Esmerelda Soria and Merced Mayor Matthew Serratto all addressed the crowd.
“We need to acknowledge that people of color are bound together in history because of our shared experience and humanity,” Caballero said. “We are resilient. We are strong and we are strong in our unity because there is strength in unity.”
The parade made its way to McNamara Park, where a festival was set up and people could enjoy the vendors, food, music, swimming and games.
“It’s a beautiful event,” Serratto said. “If you look at today, look at all the people out here, look at McNamara Park, that’s great. This park has a ton of history. It really holds a special place in the history of this city so to see it so vibrant, to see so many people here, it’s great.”
