U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson-Coleman will be the Grand Marshall of this year’s Juneteenth Parade, set to begin 11 a.m. June 17 at Pine Grove Manor Elementary School, 130 Highland Avenue.
The parade is sponsored by the SC Juneteenth Committee Inc.
Watson-Coleman (D-12) is the first Black woman to represent New Jersey in Congress.
After kicking off at Pine Grove Manor school, the parade will wend its way up Highland Avenue to Hamilton Street and end at Naaman Williams Park.
A Juneteenth Block Party – with food and retail vendors – will be held at the park following a short ceremony.
The Juneteenth holiday is an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States. Though the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves was signed January 1, 1863, enslaved African Americans in Galveston Bay, Texas learned of their freedom from the Union Army, June 19, 1865, after the Emancipation Proclamation was announced. Juneteenth is the longest standing African American holiday observed in the United States.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information about participating in the parade, contact Karen Thomas, at thomask0619@gmail.com.