CITY OF KATY (Covering Katy News) - The Katy African American Heritage Society is hosting its second annual Juneteenth parade on Wednesday, June 19, 2024.
Celebrations will kick off with a parade at 10 a.m., beginning at the First Baptist Church, 600 Pin Oak Road. The procession will culminate at Woodsland Park, 443 Danover Road in Katy.
The Katy Juneteenth celebration kicks off after the parade and will run from noon until 3 p.m. at Danover Park. Food, art, music, and a dedicated Kids Zone will entertain people throughout the day. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs for a comfortable experience.
On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, signed the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” within rebel states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” Signing that document freed more than 3.5 million enslaved people in the secessionist Confederate states.
Juneteenth commemorates a different date, it memorializes when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston on June 19, 1865. The arrival of Union troops on that day effectively ended the Civil War and emancipated those confined to a life of slavery.
Lincoln never lived to see that day. On April 14, 1865, at approximately 10:20 p.m., John Wilkes Booth, an actor, snuck up behind President Abraham Lincoln as he watched a play at Ford's Theater, and gutlessly shot him in the back of the head before running away. In those days presidential security was very lax. Lincoln died the following day.
The Katy, Texas Juneteenth Parade & Festival pays homage to African American heritage in Katy.
"Since 1865, African Americans have made Katy, Texas, their home," the organizers wrote.
"After emancipation, early Black pioneers like Milton McGinnis acquired 200 acres of land along the western portion of the Buffalo Bayou in an area once known as Cane Island. Soon, many other Black families joined him, and the area just south of the railroad tracks in Katy became home to a thriving Black community."
The heritage society says most African American Katy residents were rice farmers, business owners, or property owners.
"These Black families started businesses like the Buzzy Bee Cafe, shoe shops, and more," the Heritage Society says. "Today, descendants of the original families still call Katy home. It's been 154 years since those early settlers came to the Katy area, and we're going to celebrate."
Last year's inaugural event saw Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan preside as the Grand Marshal and other local government representatives in attendance, including the Katy City Council with Mayor Dusty Thiele. Various sororities, fraternities, and organizations participated and volunteered, including the Katy Area Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Chi Omicron Omega Chapter, and the Katy-Fulshear Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.
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