Maria Jackson first watched the Bud Billiken Parade some 60 years ago, grasping her mother’s hand and cheering for the clowns, bands and politicians that marched by. But much has changed since then.
For starters, the celebration, which once included only a few dozen entrants, now boasts more than 150. The music, at one time wafting at a low key, has been cranked up. And the outfits worn by the drillers and dancers, once considered conservative, have gotten, well, skimpier.
But one important ingredient has remained: the theme.
“It’s always been about pride, pride in the black community and pride in yourself,” said Jackson, who did not want to give her age, but said she is almost old enough to remember the first Billiken parade in 1929. “That’s never going to change.”
That pride was in full display Saturday as hundreds of thousands of spectators turned out for the 69th annual Bud Billiken Back to School Parade, named after a mythical character who protects children. The parade, which moved at a snail’s pace along King Drive from 35th Street to Washington Park, is the nation’s largest African-American parade.
African-Americans from across the city consider the parade a can’t-miss event. Many, such as Tamika Johnson, haven’t missed one since childhood.
“It’s like our annual family reunion,” said Johnson, 27.
Over the years, the parade has taken on a decidedly inclusive feel. Floats, from organizations as divergent as the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the Sickle Cell Anemia Volunteer Enterprise, joined in.
Young girls from a double-Dutch jump-rope team and older women from the “Over the Hill Drill Team” entertained spectators with equal enthusiasm.
And politicians, taking advantage of one of the last parades before Election Day, turned out en masse. U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Ill.), U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and gubernatorial candidates George Ryan and Glenn Poshard were among the many.
All received an enthusiastic response. But the loudest applause was saved for the home-grown talents, specifically the Jesse White Tumblers and the Robert Taylor Park Marching Drum and Drill Band.
Aaron Deacon was so enthralled with the Jesse White Tumblers that the 7-year-old West Sider followed the gymnasts the entire 20-block route. “I’m going be with them as soon as I get old enough,” he said.