The 32nd annual Juneteenth Harlem celebration parade is set to take place on Saturday, June 14, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., between Lenox (Malcolm X Blvd.) and 5th Avenue on 116th Street.
Like every year, the parade will include festive floats and various organizations represented. It will tap into the roots of African American cultural life with live bands and performances of jazz, gospel, spoken word, and dance. A street fair will feature food vendors and services for health, education, and culture that attendees can enjoy.
The parade is presented by and organized every year by the Masjid Malcolm Shabazz mosque (102 W. 116th Street). While there will be several celebrations in the city, the parade on 116th has been the longest running in New York for more than three decades.
The center was originally founded as Temple No. 7, and Malcolm X became head minister there before leaving the Nation of Islam. The space was changed to its current name in 1976 to honor his legacy. This year’s celebration comes one month after Malcolm X’s 100th birthday.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery, dating back to 1865 in Texas, after the Civil War ended and General Gordon Granger’s final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been ignored in the state. It first became a state holiday in 1979, followed by other states, and gained more prominence in the 1980s. President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law in 2021.
Vendor applications are still open. For more info, visit juneteenthcelebrationnyc.org.