For Nyla Stanton, the Bud Billiken show was a milestone. Having only started dancing a few months ago, it was her first time performing in the show.
Stanton, 12, is part of the Just Cause Dancers, a group she said primarily practices hip-hop. The group of dancers, dressed in pirate costumes, was preparing to perform in the parade.
Donnie Stanton, 45, and Gini Stanton, 44, watched the Bud Billiken parade on television every year, but they didn’t know what it would be like to see it in person.
“There’s a better vibe here,” said Nyla’s father, Donnie. “You see everyone putting everything together and making sure everything is lined up and in order. It’s awesome.”
On Saturday, Chicago Defender Charities hosted the 95th annual Bud Billiken Parade. The event stretches nearly three miles through Bronzeville and ends with a back-to-school event in Washington Park. It’s billed as the largest African-American parade in the United States and is a place where participants can celebrate black culture with music, food and lots of dancing.
In 1921, Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the founder of the Chicago Defender, launched Defender Junior, a children’s page of the weekly. It quickly became a social club for the city’s black children, and “Bud Billiken,” invented by Abbott and Defender editor Lucius Harper, became the official mascot, portrayed as a guardian and protector of children.
The parade’s origins date back to 1924, when Abbott held a picnic for several of his newspaper vendors. In 1929, Abbott held the first official parade, intended to thank the children who sold his newspapers.
Today, the event has become a tradition for Chicago area residents, and many city residents, and is intended to mark the start of the upcoming school year.
Before the parade began Saturday morning, hundreds of children gathered with their friends, practiced their dance routines and did flips and tricks along the side of the parade route.
Members of the Kenwood Academy band warmed up their instruments, while a group of girls in sequined dresses and go-go boots prepared to perform. Floats ranging from the Chicago Teachers Union to United Airlines and ComEd waited for the festivities to begin.
Dion Alexander, 53, had come early to set up his grill. He had come from South Holland, Illinois, to see his granddaughter dance in the parade and had planned to cook hamburgers for the family and friends who had joined him.
Alexander didn’t know what to expect, but he was excited. He had never been to a fashion show before.
“It’s on my bucket list,” Alexander said. “I’m 53 and I’ve never been to the Bud Billiken parade.”
The parade marshal was Jason Weaver, an actor and singer who voiced Simba in “The Lion King.” Honorary marshals included Jemal King, author of “9 to 5 Millionaire,” and Che “Rhymefest” Smith, a rapper, producer, philanthropist and candidate for the Chicago Public Schools Board’s 10th District.
While many spectators were excited to see their family members march, a good portion came simply for the fun of it. Community members lined Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, making and selling crocheted hats and fresh vegetables. Others watched from afar on their porch steps, laughing and cheering as the floats and dance groups passed by.
Elisa Mathis, 70, sat on a folding chair. Originally from Chicago, she now lives in River Forest, Illinois, but she tries to come to the parade every year.
Mathis said she used to be a traffic control assistant in the city, so she’s been on both sides of local parades, including Bud Billiken’s, which she remembers being a member of. An event like this is necessary to celebrate and honor the black experience and culture, she said.
“Every other culture has its own events,” Mathis said. “We’ve been around for almost 100 years. I support everyone, but you have to start with your own.”
The parade also included a back-to-school event for city students, where schools and community organizations spoke to families and offered free school supplies.
United Airlines and Innovations High School, a Youth Connection charter school, handed out free backpacks at a booth. Several area universities (Harold Washington College, Kennedy-King College, Loyola University Chicago, Southern Illinois University Carbondale and others) handed out flyers about their schools, as did charter schools like Gary Comer College Prep and Baker College Prep.
Some children also got their hair cut in time for the start of the school year.
Marcus Davis, owner of Technique’s Barber Shop and Salon in Calumet City and a self-proclaimed “celebrity barber,” has opened a salon in Washington Park, with members of his staff performing haircuts and braids.
“Some kids don’t have the opportunity to go to the hairdresser all the time and spend money,” Davis said. “My mom gave me a pencil and a backpack and I had to keep them all year. We’re just here to give them that security, knowing that we can take care of them as they get ready to go back to school — to build their self-esteem.”
Parade participants also took part in the generosity.
Delphine Bridges, 60, stood in the parking lot of Mt. Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, in the middle of the parade route, surrounded by piles of clothing and shoes. This was the second year Bridges has handed out free clothing at the Bud Billiken parade.
“I started collecting clothes last year,” Bridges said. “God said Bud Billiken. We have a big crowd and it brings the community together. I can just help a lot of people,” she said.
Bridges inherited her passion for community service from her grandmother, who she used to accompany to church as a child to volunteer. She wants to revive those efforts at the church, she said.
About an hour after the parade began at 10 a.m., Bridges had donated nearly half the piles of clothing she started with Saturday morning. She had been collecting clothes to distribute over the past month, she said.
Bridges said Bud Billiken was one of her fondest memories as a child, but the crowds have gotten smaller in recent years.
“When we were younger, it was standing room only,” Bridges said, pointing to empty spaces in the grass along King Drive. “We’ve had a lot of violence in the city, unfortunately, and that might keep a lot of people from coming.”
Still, she said she appreciated that the parade’s traditions continued.
“They come here with the kids, and the kids are running around and having fun, eating a lot of candy, eating a lot of hot dogs,” Bridges said with a laugh. “It’s always a great time. It’s something I would miss.”
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