Celebrating African Roots
By Tashan McFadden
It is a warm sunny day in Harlem. Along 125th Street, the sounds of hip hop, R&B, marching bands, and African chants fill the air. Colorful floats depicting Civil Rights leaders, the Founding Fathers, and historic colleges pass by. A packed crowd waves African flags from Ghana, Kenya, the Congo, Ethiopia, and Morocco.
It is the 46th annual African Day Parade, held this year between 111th and 136th Streets and Seventh Avenue. Parade participants celebrated their African heritage with floats, music and pageantry. Marching bands from historical black schools like Lincoln and Howard University performed.
Among the crowd were politicians and celebrities. The first and only black New York City mayor, David Dinkins, waved to the crowd from his motorcar. The current mayor Bill de Blasio shook hands and took pictures with the crowd. Hip hop star Slick Rick waved a baton atop a float celebrating British Africans.
Scores of kids on bikes rode down the street with African flags. Some were wearing African shirts called dashiki. A float bearing images of Harriet Tubman, Thurgood Marshall, Maya Angelou and Martin Luther King declared “We have invested too much in America.” Following close behind were local clubs and youth teams greeted with loud cheers by the crowd.
“It is wonderful thing to see everyone come together especially after all that has been happening to us,” said spectator Gail Woods, referring to conflicts between police and the community.
Parade organizers said one of the goals of the event was to improve relations between the people and the police. African American Marines and police officers marched with flags from Ghana and Ethiopia. After a year that saw many protests against the police, there were no signs of strife during the parade. Instead, there was singing and dancing. At one point, a DJ floated by, spinning a James Brown song. He played the words “Say it loud” and then stopped the record and the crowd sang out, “I’m black and I’m proud.”