“The Bud” is back. The Bud Billiken Parade was canceled in 2020 — for the first time since its founding in 1929 due to COVID-19 — but returns Saturday with the theme of “Back to School, Back to Life and Back to Bud Billiken.”
Myiti Sengstacke-Rice, parade chair and president/CEO of Chicago Defender Charities, says the popular celebration and showcase for the city’s talented young people — which she calls “a big family reunion for the community” — will also offer coronavirus education, testing and vaccinations.
“Some people might wonder why have an event like this during a pandemic,” Sengstacke-Rice said. “If people are going to come out anyway, then at least we equip them with all of the tools in order to be safe and healthy.”
Organizers encourage attendees to wear masks along the parade route and the festival area in Washington Park and will be distributing them, too.
Rapid COVID-19 testing will be available at 47th Street and King Drive and free vaccinations will be administered in Washington Park by the Chicago Department of Public Health and Walgreens from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Sengstacke-Rice said many of the 125 groups participating in the parade — including the South Shore Drill Team and Geek Skquad Dance Company — have been practicing despite the pandemic, “They were eager to stick with what they enjoy doing. They look forward to that one special day where they can let the world know what they’ve been working on,” she said.
Members of the South Shore Drill Team perform at the Bud Billiken Parade in Bronzeville on Aug. 11, 2018. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Expect the event to offer the entertainment, food and fun that’s delighted multiple generations of families — including Sengstacke-Rice’s own: “I’m just really happy and blessed to be the fourth generation to run this parade. A lot of businesses, unfortunately, can’t last this long. And for us to last this long is a testament to how important it is to our community. It’s really about the community coming together and it means as much to them as it means a lot to our family,” she said.
The parade will be broadcast on WLS-Ch. 7 on Saturday, Aug. 21.
Time and date: 10 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 14. Location: Bronzeville. Route: The parade begins at the intersection of East 45th Street and South King Drive and continues 10 blocks south on King Drive to Washington Park. Festival afterward in Washington Park: As in previous years, a family-friendly fair called “It Takes A Village” will take place after the parade in Washington Park and remain open until 4 p.m.
Grand marshal
Chicago Sky forward Candace Parker is leading this year’s parade.
Parker, who grew up in Naperville, was named Ms. Basketball in Illinois three times at Naperville Central before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2008 WNBA draft. She is a two-time WNBA most valuable player with the Los Angeles Sparks and two-time college player of the year at the University of Tennessee. She earned Olympic gold with Team USA in 2008 and 2012 and was a studio analyst for the Tokyo Olympics.
Parker left the Sparks after 13 seasons to sign with the Sky early this year.
Rep. Bobby Rush waves at supporters at the 2010 Bud Billiken Parade on Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago. (Abel Uribe, Chicago Tribune)
Honorary marshals
Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, civil rights leader and two-time U.S. presidential candidate. Rep. Danny K. Davis, Illinois’ 7th Congressional District. Rep. Bobby Rush, Illinois’ 1st Congressional District. “Englewood Barbie” Aleta Clark, founder of Hugs No Slugs anti-violence campaign and Club 51 advocate. Bevy Smith, TV personality, radio host and author Jonathan McReynolds, Grammy award-winning gospel artist McKinley Nelson, founder of Project Swish Chicago Jeremy Joyce, founder of Black People Eats
Participants
Normally about 250 groups — including bands and dance and drill teams — participate in the parade. Expect 125 groups this year due to COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines, Sengstacke-Rice said.
Ultimate Threat Dance Organization, previously known as Silent Threat Dance Team, will perform despite the loss of its artistic leader Verndell “Vee” Smith to gun violence in May.
“(Smith) wasn’t involved in a gang, but, unfortunately, it was just such a tough time for the kids. So we have really been supporting them as much as we can. So, we’ll be highlighting them,” Sengstacke-Rice said. “Also, we’ve been working with these teams to make sure that we keep peace in our community.”
The 90th annual Bud Billiken parade prom court waves to the crowd in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood on Aug. 10, 2019. (Camille Fine / Chicago Tribune)
Royal court and scholarships
Based upon essay submissions, Chicago Defender Charities chose for the royal court:
King: Richard Gallion Jr., 13 Queen: Kennedi Eggleston, 13 Prince: Destin Barnes, 11 Princess: Avey Mallory, 11
Chicago-area students completed an essay and a three-minute video to answer these questions: “How has your education prepared you for this rapidly changing world? Have your educational goals changed in any way? If so, how will those changes positively impact you, your family and your community as a whole?”
Chicago Defender Charities gave $2,500 scholarships to:
Montana Billings (Howard University, biology) Jahia Collier (Hampton University, biology) Zachary Gist (Howard University, biology) Jaylen Greene (Morehouse College, finance) Nya Latham (Agnes Scott College, biochemistry and molecular biology) Chudi Martin Jr. (Oberlin College, Africana and environmental studies) Ezra Pruitt (Oberlin Conservatory, musical and environmental studies) Ronald Shade (Howard University, business management) Jalen Sims (University of Illinois at Springfield, computer science) Madison Tate (Howard University, biology) Yahzuri Zebulun (Howard University, health management)
Khamarei Avery, 8, bikes on the street during the 90th annual Bud Billiken parade in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood on Aug. 10, 2019. (Camille Fine / Chicago Tribune)
Getting there
Parking: Spaces are limited. Carpooling or public transportation is advised.
Public transportation: The Green Line is your best bet; exit at the 43rd Street, 47th Street or 51st Street stops and walk east toward the route. If you’re taking the Red Line, exit at the 47th Street stop. Take the No. 47 bus east and get off at Prairie Avenue; the parade is two blocks east. Details about extra bus and rail service are available on the CTA website.
Parade origins
Portrait of Robert Sengstacke Abbott (1870 - 1940), publisher and founder of the Chicago Defender, which came to be known as 'America's Black Newspaper' in the early twentieth century. (Robert Abbott Sengstacke / Getty Images)
The Chicago Defender was founded in 1905 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott.
In 1924, Abbott held a picnic for five of his publication’s newsboys.
The first parade was held Aug. 11, 1929, when Abbott wanted to thank the children who hawked his newspaper on street corners. He could think of no better way than to give them the things they loved: ice cream, hot dogs and a day outdoors.
Who is Bud Billiken?
Bud Billiken first appeared on the Defender Junior page in the Chicago Defender on April 2, 1921. (Chicago Defender)
In 1921, Abbott started Defender Junior, a page of his weekly paper devoted to children. It grew to include a club, drawing children across the U.S. and Africa and serving as an alternative to the Boy Scouts in response to the segregation at the time.
Bud Billiken, the page’s fictional editor/mascot described as the guardian and protector of children, was invented by Abbott and the Defender’s executive editor, Lucius Harper. Depending on which authority you ask, the two either found the word “billiken” in a dictionary, or Harper had a carving of one on his desk.
Side note: Good-luck figurines called billikens were a popular culture craze in the early 1900s. Florence Pretz, a Kansas City art teacher, created the tubby little good-luck creature — a cross between a Kewpie doll and a Buddha figure — and for a while the impish-looking “god of things as they ought to be” was all the rage. The Billiken Company of Chicago manufactured dolls, banks, figurines and other souvenirs in his likeness.
Notable participants
Since its inception, many celebrities have participated in the parade:
Politicians and civic leaders: Both Mayors Daley; Barack Obama, as both a U.S. senator and president; President Harry Truman; and Chicago’s first Black mayor, Harold Washington. Entertainers: James Brown, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Chaka Khan, Spike Lee, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Oprah Winfrey and Chance the Rapper. Athletes: Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Joe Louis, former Olympian Jesse Owens and Floyd Patterson.
Check out the Tribune’s archives at your fingertips at Newspapers.com.
Sources: Chicago Defender Charities; Tribune archives; Chicago Defender; AP
interactive_content
Column: As COVID cases surge, the unvaccinated-by-choice should know they’re being judged harshly
48m
Bud Billiken Parade 2021: A modified route and free COVID-19 vaccinations are new additions to the 92-year-old Chicago tradition
48m
Ask Amy Ask Amy: Attack victim wants to warn others
5h
Horoscopes Daily horoscope for August 11, 2021
Aug 11, 2021
Criminal Justice Police Superintendent David Brown says it’s ‘an outrage’ judge ordered release of man accused of supplying pistol used to kill officer
Aug 11, 2021