RACINE, Wis. — A first of it’s kind parade is coming to Racine.
This Saturday, a Juneteenth parade will take place on the city’s east side. The City of Racine has acknowledged and celebrated Juneteenth for nearly 50 years.
This year’s celebration will see something new: A parade beginning at Dekoven and Wisconsin and ending not far away on Caron Butler Dr.
“This is just a few community members that decided to come together and do the parade,” said organizer Corey Prince.
Prince said it was his Facebook post that showed him how many people wanted a parade in the city.
“It got a lot of support. a lot of shares and comments then the idea started formulating,” he said.
The outpour on social media eventually became a tangible effort. Now, they are hosting a Juneteenth parade with local leaders, celebrating Black heritage Saturday morning at 10:45 a.m.
“It’s a full-on parade,” Prince said. “The chief of police and the former chief of police will be in the parade as they are African American, and we have an African American fire captain.”
Javonna Lue jumped at the chance to get in on the citizen-led effort.
“We just want the community to come out grab their lawn chairs, sit along the route and enjoy a good old fashioned parade,” Lue said.
It’s something positive for a community faced with unprecedented violence already this summer.
Entrepreneur Yolonda Blair, better known as “Yogi,” is one of the sponsors. She lost her husband, Terrance Blair, to gun violence when he tried breaking up a fight on May 15.
“It’s something positive. After losing my husband, this would be good for the city,” Blair said.
As this inaugural parade kicks off Saturday morning, Prince said he is looking forward to seeing the community come out and hopes it shows people the power of collaboration and the strength of community.
“To pull this off by ourselves as a community, I think, is the best feeling,” Prince said.
