LANSING, Mich. — Juneteenth will always be a special holiday for Ken Turner. It represents June 19, 1865, a day that many people call the “official” end of slavery.
“Our ancestors had no idea what freedom was because they had never been free,” Turner said. “You know, when that day happened, it changed a whole life, it changed generations.”
Turner said Juneteenth didn’t get the recognition it deserved until over 150 years later when it became a federal holiday in 2021.
“Now, we’re making it more mainstream, more people know about it, more celebrations are happening all over the country now that it’s a national holiday,” Turner said. “ It’s so big that even here in small Lansing, we got four or five celebrations.”
And one of those celebrations is the Lansing Juneteenth Celebration's African American Parade, which on Saturday, and it is back for its 30th year.
“It starts everything off, and all the energy starts the with parade,” Turner said.
It all kicks off at 11 a.m., and we’re told over 35 groups will be participating. Oh, and we can't forget the grand marshals.
"We got co-grand marshals," Turner said. "We got James Bibbs, who was a coach in track at MSU and helped a lot of kids get track scholarships. And the other one is Alan Haller, who went to school here at Sexton, and he went to Michigan State and played for the Steelers."
Turner said if you’re on the fence about coming out, to remember a huge part of Juneteenth is about unity.
“You’ll see people you haven’t seen since last Juneteenth, so just come out and have a good time,” he said.
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