Introduction to the Bud Billiken Parade
Marilyn Griffin traveled just one block from her Bronzeville home Saturday morning, as she does most years, to hand out school supplies for kids and join thousands gathered along Martin Luther King Drive for an August ritual in the Black community: the annual Bud Billiken Parade. Griffin says she’s glad the parade has lived on for 96 years. “It speaks to the longevity of the African American family and the support systems that the communities provide for these families,” Griffin said. “As a resident of Bronzeville, it just really warms my heart to be here to watch this year after year.”
The Parade’s Significance and History
The parade is considered the largest of its kind in the U.S. and marks the start of the school year. As local high school bands, drill and dance teams marched down King Drive in the steamy heat, bystanders set up lawn chairs, food stands and grills along the parade route.
Members of the Jesse White Tumblers soar through the air during a performance on the parade route during the Bud Billiken Parade.
Tyler Pasciak Lariviere / Sun-Times
Community Involvement and Celebration
Carolyn Jones, the principal of Perkins Bass Elementary in Englewood, called the parade a “reset.” “We’ve had a great time off in the summer,” Jones said. “Everybody is relaxed and chill. And now we’re going back to handle the business of school.” She said her students learn about how the parade was created in 1929 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the founder of the Chicago Defender, as a way to celebrate Black children and their achievements.
Crowds gather for the parade along Martin Luther King Drive near Washington Park.
Tyler Pasciak Lariviere / Sun-Times
Performances and Attendance
Further down the route was Shenika Dupart, who brought her niece and grandson. “As a child, I’ve always come to the Bud Billiken; it’s been a family tradition,” she said. “So I was very excited to come. I was off work, and it was like, ‘Why not bring the little ones?’” Dupart said the parade is an opportunity to celebrate “people from my background, my culture, my nationality.” Bri’leigh, her 7-year-old niece, said she hopes to join one of the dance teams at next year’s parade.
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