Bud Billiken Parade
Linda Zabors
by Bria - Honorary Chicago intern 2016
BUD BILLIKEN’S 87th ANNUAL PARADE!!
August 13,2016 is the Saturday that you have to come out for! This is something absolutely worth seeing. I feel as though this particular parade is children based. It’s all about displaying why school is so vital to the youth. For 87 years the Bud Billiken Parade has brought the community together to uphold all types of things that are positively beneficial for the children. Being in one of the parades because I academically excelled in grammar school made me realize that events like this helps remind children that what they do in school does not go unnoticed. It is very entertaining. You see kids of all ages doing something that they worked very hard on. From choreographed dances to other things such drill teams, you won’t be upset that you attended.
This years theme for the parade is “Uniting the Community Through Education for 87 years” and the grand marshall is Katherine Y. Branch!
There is a new start time for the 2016 parade. It starts at 9:00 a.m. and ends at 12:30 p.m. Not an early person? Don’t sweat it! The Bud Billiken Parade is also televised! You can watch the whole parade in the comfort of your own bed with just a click of a button. Tune in to channel 7 (ABC 7 Chicago), Saturday morning and watch everything unfold.
History of the Bud Billiken Parade
The Chicago Defender is basically how this all started. It was founded by Robert Sengstacke Abbott on May 5, 1905. The point behind the Chicago Defender was to bring light to African American issues. In the year of 1921 the Chicago Defender Jr was produced. This was a section for children! The editor was a young man that goes by the name of Robert Watkins. He was known as Bud Billiken. This section also included an application to Bud Billiken Club. It was named after the Billiken, which is the guardian angel to children according to a chinese legend. In the year of 1929 that is when the parade was born. The main reason for including a parade was to give underprivileged youth to be in the spotlight for once. Let them know that they are important as well. From then on it has flourished into something huge!