{"id":133473,"date":"2025-08-10T04:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T04:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/133473\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T04:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T04:31:10","slug":"south-side-bud-billiken-parade-marks-the-start-of-the-back-to-school-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/133473\/","title":{"rendered":"South Side Bud Billiken Parade marks the start of the back-to-school season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marilyn Griffin traveled just one block from her Bronzeville home Saturday morning, as she does most years, to hand out school supplies for kids and join thousands gathered along Martin Luther King Drive for an August ritual in the Black community: the annual Bud Billiken Parade.<\/p>\n

Griffin says she\u2019s glad the parade has lived on for 96 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt speaks to the longevity of the African American family and the support systems that the communities provide for these families,\u201d Griffin said. \u201cAs a resident of Bronzeville, it just really warms my heart to be here to watch this year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the Jesse White Tumblers soar through the air during a performance on the parade route during the Bud Billiken Parade.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

The parade is considered the largest of its kind in the U.S. and marks the start of the school year.<\/p>\n

As local high school bands, drill and dance teams marched down King Drive in the steamy heat, bystanders set up lawn chairs, food stands and grills along the parade route.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Crowds<\/p>\n

Crowds gather for the parade along Martin Luther King Drive near Washington Park. <\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Carolyn Jones, the principal of Perkins Bass Elementary in Englewood, called the parade a \u201creset.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a great time off in the summer,\u201d Jones said. \u201cEverybody is relaxed and chill. And now we\u2019re going back to handle the business of school.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dancers<\/p>\n

Dancers with Astronaut Flee make the most of their chance to perform on the parade route.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

She said her students learn about how the parade was created in 1929 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the founder of the Chicago Defender, as a way to celebrate Black children and their achievements.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Chance<\/p>\n

Chance the Rapper took a ride through the Billiken Parade. <\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Further down the route was Shenika Dupart, who brought her niece and grandson.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a child, I\u2019ve always come to the Bud Billiken; it\u2019s been a family tradition,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I was very excited to come. I was off work, and it was like, \u2018Why not bring the little ones?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Dupart said the parade is an opportunity to celebrate \u201cpeople from my background, my culture, my nationality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bri\u2019leigh, her 7-year-old niece, said she hopes to join one of the dance teams at next year\u2019s parade.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Soul<\/p>\n

Soul Train of Chicago marches down King Drive during the parade. <\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

For Delecter Clark from Old Town, the parade takes him back to his childhood.<\/p>\n

He used to come to see the cheerleaders and school bands perform each year with his siblings. Clark recalled how they used to hunt for a shady spot near the barricades wherever they could squeeze in along the parade route.<\/p>\n

As an adult, he now sees the parade as a symbol of Chicago\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been here way before I was born,\u201d Clark said, \u201cSo it\u2019s history to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the South Shore Drill Team perform along the route.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

Among the groups at the parade were representatives of the National A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, which is located in the Pullman neighborhood.<\/p>\n

This year, the museum is celebrating the centennial of the founding of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first Black labor union in America. The BSCP was founded by the labor organizer and civil rights leader Asa Philip Randolph and a group of porters who were employed by the Pullman Palace Car Co. They fought against harsh working conditions and discrimination in the workplace.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dancers<\/p>\n

Dancers with Soul Train of Chicago do a routine for the crowd.<\/p>\n

Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere\/Sun-Times<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s celebration comes as the Trump administration has scaled back some of the kind of civil rights protections that leaders like Abbott and Randolph fought for, parade-goers said.<\/p>\n

Jones, the Perkins Bass principal, said she has not been surprised by the Trump administration\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just praying that we as a community can continue to stand up and fight for what we know is right,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Anna Savchenko is a reporter for WBEZ. You can reach her at asavchenko@wbez.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marilyn Griffin traveled just one block from her Bronzeville home Saturday morning, as she does most years, to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-133473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115002598114314362","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}