The Oregon Juneteenth parade and celebration kicked off in Northeast Portland Saturday morning with hundreds of participants from the local community. Events included live music, clowns, cheerleaders, vendors, award-winning BBQ and a fleet of P.T. Cruisers.
The parade, titled the Clara Peoples Freedom Trail Parade, started near the Safeway at Northeast Ainsworth Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. From there, it traveled south to Russell Street before ending at a park across from Legacy Emanuel Hospital. Festivities continue at the park until 7 p.m. and are open to the public.
Juneteenth, also known as Juneteenth Independence Day or Freedom Day, is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States, and celebration of the milestone holiday is spreading across the U.S. and beyond.
It was originally celebrated on June 19, the day that Union soldiers in 1865 told enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, that the Civil War had ended and they were free.
(Read more about Juneteenth in the United States)
--Mark Graves
mgraves@oregonian.com
503-860-3060
--The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ad Choices