Nicknamed “The Bud,” the parade has been a back-to-school celebration and showcase for Chicago’s talented young people since 1929. For four generations, the Sengstacke family has organized what it says is the largest African American parade in the United States . Hundreds of thousands of spectators and generations of families will gather along the almost 3-mile route in Bronzeville Saturday to cheer on a variety of performers — bands, dance and drill teams, tumblers and cheerleaders — and watch honorary grand marshals and celebrities ride in style aboard floats and classic cars.
And thousands of school supplies and other amenities will be handed out in Washington Park following the parade. Can’t be there in person? Watch the parade’s live broadcast from 10 a.m.
-noon on WLS-Ch. 7 and abc7chicago.com .
The parade starts at 10 a.m. at the intersection of 39th Street and South King Drive in Bronzeville and marches south to 55th Place in Washington Park.
Grand marshal: Jason Weaver , star of “The Chi,” “ATL” and “Drumline.” The actor and singer, who attended Illiana Christian High School in Lansing and Thornwood High School in South Holland, also portrayed Michael Jackson in the 1992 miniseries “The Jacksons: An American Dream.” And when he was 11, Weaver was the singing voice of Simba in “Lion King.
” Honorary grand marshals: Jemal King (“9 to 5 Millionaire”); Keena Barber (WDB Marketing chief executive officer); Latisha Waters (Empiire Dance Co. chief executive officer); Hosea Sanders (WLS-Ch. 7 journalist); and Che “Rhymefest” Smith (rapper, producer, philanthropist and candidate for Chicago Public Schools Board, 10th District).
Yes! Treats, entertainment, free hair cuts and hair braiding, school supplies, health checks for adults and children, and giveaways will be available in Washington Park following the parade until 4 p.m. Parking: Spaces are limited.
Carpooling or public transportation is advised. Chicago Transit Authority: The Green Line is your best bet; exit at the Indiana, 43rd Street, 47th Street, 51st Street or Garfield stops and walk east toward the route. If you’re taking the Red Line , exit at the 47th Street stop.
Take the No. 47 bus east and get off at Prairie Avenue; the parade is two blocks east. Details about extra bus and rail service are available on the CTA website.
Some bus schedules will be rerouted due to the parade. Robert Sengstacke Abbott / Getty Images Newspaper founder Robert Sengstacke Abbott, at right, stands outside The Chicago Defender’s original building in Chicago, circa 1910s. Abbott championed the “Great Northern Drive” through his newspaper.
(Robert Sengstacke Abbott/Getty Images) The Chicago Defender was founded in 1905 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott . In 1924, Abbott held a picnic for five of his publication’s newsboys. The first parade was held Aug.
11, 1929, when Abbott wanted to thank the children who hawked his newspaper on street corners. He could think of no better way than to give them the things they loved: ice cream, hot dogs and a day outdoors. Chicago Defender Bud Billiken first appeared on the Defender Junior page in the Chicago Defender on April 2, 1921.
(Chicago Defender) In 1921, Abbott started Defender Junior, a page of his weekly paper devoted to children. It grew to include a club, drawing children across the U.S.
and Africa and serving as an alternative to the Boy Scouts in response to the segregation at the time. Bud Billiken, the page’s fictional editor/mascot described as the guardian and protector of children, was invented by Abbott and the Defender’s executive editor, Lucius Harper. Depending on which authority you ask, the two either found the word “billiken” in a dictionary or Harper had a carving of one on his desk.
Side note: Good-luck figurines called billikens were a popular culture craze in the early 1900s. Florence Pretz , a Kansas City art teacher, created the tubby little good-luck creature — a cross between a Kewpie doll and a Buddha figure — and for a while the impish-looking “god of things as they ought to be” was all the rage. The Billiken Company of Chicago manufactured dolls, banks, figurines and other souvenirs in his likeness.
Many notable people have participated in the parade since its inception. Here are a few: Chicago Tribune historical photo President Harry Truman, from left, John Sengstacke and Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley ride in the 1956 Bud Billiken Parade.
Sengstacke was the publisher of the Chicago Defender. Chicago Tribune historical photo South Side beauties ride in the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 7, 1948.
Chicago Tribune historical photo From left, Beverly Glenn, 12, Elizabeth Barnes, 11, and Rita Black are baton twirlers in the Bud Billiken Parade of 1951. Robert Sengstacke Abbott via Getty Images Newspaper founder Robert Sengstacke Abbott, at right, stands outside The Chicago Defender's original building in Chicago, circa 1910s. Abbott championed the "Great Northern Drive" through his newspaper.
Chicago Tribune historical photo Boxer Joe Louis and his wife ride along Michigan Avenue in the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 7, 1948. The Lt.
George L. Giles Yellow Jackets Drum and Bugle Corps marches down South Parkway near 39th Street on Aug. 6, 1960, during the Bud Billiken Parade.
(Ron Bailey/Chicago Tribune) Chicago Tribune historical photo Queen of the Bud Billiken Parade, center, in 1955. Editors note: this photo has a hand-painted background. Chicago Tribune historical photo The annual Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic has been held every August in Chicago since 1929.
Founded by Chicago Defender publisher Robert S. Abbott, it became the largest African American parade in the United States, founded to be a celebration of African American life. Here, Chicago Mayor Martin Kennelly, left, and Chicago Defender Publisher John Sengstacke attend the parade in 1948.
Luigi Mendicino / Chicago Tribune Women wave from a Navy recruiting float in the Bud Billiken Day Parade as it passes 49th Street and South Parkway in 1958. Chicago Tribune historical photo Famous boxer Joe Louis waves to the crowds on the South Side on Aug. 14, 1954, as he sits atop a float heading the Bud Billiken Parade.
With the ex-champion are Booker Trotter, 9, left, and Joe Jr., 7. (Chicago Tribune historical photo) published August 15, 1954 A Boy Scout unit marches on Aug.
8, 1953, in the Bud Billiken Parade on South Michigan Avenue. (Alton Kaste/Chicago Tribune) Don Casper / Chicago Tribune The 41st annual Bud Billiken Parade at 39th and King Drive in Chicago in August 1970. One of the floats in the 20th annual Bud Billiken Parade on Aug.
6, 1949. The South Side parade lasted for two hours. (Chicago Tribune historical photo) Michael Burdys / Chicago Tribune The crowd watches the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug.
8, 1981. George Quinn/Chicago Tribune The Bud Billiken parade in 1976. (Tribune archive photo by George Quinn) Quentin C.
Dodt / Chicago Tribune Ald. Charlie Chew and boxer Muhammad Ali ride in the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 9, 1975.
Don Casper / Chicago Tribune Each year, two youngsters get to be the parade's king and queen, seen here at the Bud Billiken Parade along 39th Street and King Drive in Chicago on Aug. 8, 1970. Ovie Carter/Chicago Tribune Marchers in the Bud Billiken parade on Aug.
14, 1982, in Chicago. Bud Billiken lives on each year in the parade of bands and floats that wind along Martin Luther King Drive, circa 1973. (William Kelly/Chicago Tribune) Quentin C.
Dodt/Chicago Tribune Ald. Charlie Chew, left, and boxer Muhammad Ali ride in the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 9, 1975.
President Harry Truman, from left, John Sengstacke and Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley ride in the 1956 Bud Billiken Parade. Sengstacke was the publisher of the Chicago Defender.
Politicians and civic leaders: Both Mayors Daley; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; Barack Obama, as both a U.S.
senator and president; President Harry Truman; and Chicago’s first Black mayor, Harold Washington Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune Singer Chaka Khan waves to fans during the Bud Billiken Parade on Aug. 9, 2014. (Abel Uribe/Chicago Tribune) Entertainers: James Brown, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Chaka Khan, Spike Lee, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Oprah Winfrey and Chance the Rapper Robert Abbott Sengstacke / Getty Images American singer James Brown and boxing champ Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) smile and greet paradegoers while participating in the annual Bud Billiken Parade in August 1966.
(Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images) Athletes: Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Candace Parker, Joe Louis, Jesse Owens and Floyd Patterson Sources: Chicago Defender Charities; Tribune archives and photos Subscribe to the free Vintage Chicago Tribune newsletter, join our Chicagoland history Facebook group and follow us on Instagram for more from Chicago’s past..
