
For attendees at Saturday’s Juneteenth parade in Longview, learning about the storied Black holiday is a family tradition — one they intend to pass on. It’s also a day to promote unity among all people regardless of race.
East Texans gathered along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to see classic cars, jacked-up trucks and four-wheelers, dance troops and more.
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, U.S. soldiers went to Galveston to enforce the abolition of slavery — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
The day became a federal holiday in 2021.
Alton Hawkins, a retired teacher, joined his son and grandchildren as they watched the parade roll toward the Broughton Recreation Center. Hawkins picked up his grandson, 1-year-old Kaysen, who was participating in his first Juneteenth celebration.
Hawkins still had a lesson to teach his family: “What it really means to respect their culture.”
Hawkins’ parents were field workers who didn’t even have eighth-grade educations, but they wanted their children to have better lives, he said. He and other family members since then have attained college educations and embarked on careers as educators, engineers, computer technicians and more, he said.
“All the things that people before us have done have paved the way for all of us to do the things we do right now,” Hawkins said.
His son, Victor, sat beneath the shade of an umbrella next to his children. The parade teaches his children that Black history can be celebrated year-round — not just during Black History Month in February.
It also preserves history, he said.
“Every day, you hear about things being forgotten or things being omitted,” Hawkins said. “Things like this is a good step to keep things from being forgotten.”
Seated nearby, Vanya Roberts said she was glad to celebrate with her community what Juneteenth means: “Freedom.”
“It means a lot to me because we don’t have a lot that is celebrated for our Black culture,” she said. “We have to find places to put the celebration in what our ancestors went through and come through.”
She’s celebrated the holiday for most of her life, and the main message of the day is unity: “Just being able to come together in peace and love and keeping God in it,” she said.
Her niece, Denver Thomas, learned about the holiday from her mother. She now does the same thing as a mother herself, she said.
“It’s OK to celebrate Independence Day where we were supposed to be free,” she said. “But we were not technically free at that time. And that’s the whole meaning of Juneteenth.”
The holiday isn’t solely for Black Americans, she said.
“It’s for everybody just to celebrate freedom for everybody,” she said.
Christina Choice’s daughter was in the Baby Dolls Dance Club, which busted some moves during the parade. The parade is a family tradition.
“It’s just not about Black people. It’s about everybody coming together, just trying to be in unity,” she said.
Her cousin, Bri’Anna Wallace, said the day also helps people remember the pain and suffering Black Americans have endured.
Wallace wants her niece, 6-year-old Genelle Skipper, to know more about Black culture. Skipper stood beside her as they watched the parade floats stroll by.
“She doesn’t understand yet,” Wallace said. “But today, she’ll get a better grip of understanding of it.”