June 17th, 2023 – Community members gathered in Central Park yesterday for the 29th annual Juneteenth celebration to honor and remember the liberation of the last African Americans from slavery.
The event, sponsored by the African American Cultural and Genealogical Society, kicked off with a parade through downtown Decatur. The parade featured organizations such as Big Boy Toyz car club, Walk It Like We Talk It, Old Kings’ Orchard, The Boys and Girls Club, traditional black sororities, members of the Human Rights Commission, and even President Abe Lincoln himself.
Derrick Thaxton, co-organizer and advisory board member of AACGS said the holiday is important to remember what his forefathers went through to get to this place. “We’ve come a long way but at the same time we have a long way to go,” Thaxton said. “The past is there to educate us and make us better This is unifying the body. Decatur has always talked about this and what we wanted to see happen. We set aside a day to celebrate, unify and have fellowship with one another”
The parade led to Central Park in downtown Decatur, where Senator Doris Turner and State Representative Sue Scherer announced a donation of 25,000 dollars to the African American Cultural and Genealogical Society during the opening ceremony. Festivities included a dance performance from the First Church of God in Christ praise team, followed by a hat show, songs from Oliver Brooks, Dr. William McClain, and headliner Theodore Fisher on the saxophone. There was also an appearance by a character actor playing Harriet Tubman and a performance by the “Dynamic Threat” dance team.
Abraham Lincoln (also known as character actor and Lincoln historian Kevin Wood), said if he hadn’t been assassinated two months prior to Juneteenth in 1865, he would have found it highly appropriate to celebrate the end of slavery in the Nation. “Slavery is sometimes called the original sin of this Nation.” “We are a nation dedicated to the ideals of liberty and equality and yet we didn’t go far enough when allowing the institution of slavery to exist in this country and to allow it to continue for so many years.”
To check out the photo gallery of the event, click HERE.
(Contributor: Tray Brown)
