(gentle music) (people speaking faintly) - [Alex] I learned about Juneteenth when I was 19 and I was in undergrad then.

- Who?

- You heard me.

- I didn't hear you.

- When I come get the fourth hour people I want you to be there.

- Alex Nichols works at Detroit's Northwestern High School.

She's an organizer with Detroit's Juneteenth Parade.

It's new this year.

- Fill them in and learn the.

I knew it was something I wanted to keep celebrating but I moved around a lot.

But I didn't really seek any activities out until, hey guys, President Biden made the move soon as he got in office to make Juneteenth a federal holiday.

So it piqued my interest once it became a federal holiday.

Thank you so much for being here this morning.

We couldn't do it without you.

- We are celebrating what our ancestors have achieved, the equity, the sweat, the sacrifices that they made for us to be here, but also understanding that there are still disparities that exist today.

(upbeat drum music) - [Bill] Detroit loves a parade.

Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day, traditions.

Perhaps now it's time to include Juneteenth.

- I just knew parades coming up in my life and this was something I thought I may endeavor to recreate because of how much joy it brought me in my youth.

And knowing that the community comes out to support.

Juneteenth is an example of that.

Why not have a parade for Juneteenth?

(upbeat band music) - Juneteenth is about unifying the community and I think that's the best way we can say it.

- It's an important holiday to remember an important time in history on how slaves were freed.

- But today we've got Juneteenth and so we're celebrating the fact that we had the option to collectively celebrate on June 19th each year.

And the first Juneteenth celebrations have been going on since the late 1800s.

- [Bill] The Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, January, 1863, meant freedom for most slaves, but not some in Texas.

Not until June 19th, 1865.

That's Juneteenth.

- A lot of people, even though they told them that they were free, a lot of people were scared because they thought they were gonna get hung.

So it made them stay on their plantations even though that they were free.

- So they kept them for two and a half years?

- Kept them enslaved, in bondage for two and a half years.

- Like it was just ridiculous of what they did.

Like why would you do that?

- [Alex] Oh, you guys, maybe 13, maybe 14.

This is recent history for you.

So all of this stuff, like, this don't apply to me.

It applies to you.

- [Bill] President Biden's holiday making signature.

History, something so many of us didn't know.

History, some worry may be skipped over, forgotten in some schools.

- Fill in the blank answers which you guys know so well, okay?

It's much more important now that we're having this.

This is something that we need to carry on and they need to be educated so that they could take this mantle and move forward with when the time comes.

May not be right here, but it'll be wherever they are.

All hands should be up.

All hands.

If you're in this room, you're getting your training hours today.

(Alex speaking faintly) - [Bill] These students in Juneteenth training to be ambassadors to spread the word about the holiday.

- They learn about history and also they learn about being in the community, giving back to the community, volunteering.

- [Bill] Juneteenth for them, a paid position of sorts.

Southwest Solutions runs the program providing guidance as they enter the workplace.

- Wanna be a truck driver.

Anything you wanna do, we are here to help with that career.

- What do we want?

- [Group] Freedom.

- When do we want it?

- [Group] Now!

- [Bill] The parade east down West Grand Boulevard then north on Rosa Parks.

About a mile.

Northwestern and Central High School representatives walking together commemorating a summer holiday.

There's food and fun.

But for students, the mission is to make this day different.

- It's becoming more than just a cookout.

It's more than just sit around and laugh and joke.

It's an opportunity to begin a conversation so people can learn about themselves and the people that built this country.

- In my journey in learning about Juneteenth, I learned that Buffalo, a city of New York has, they're going on there like 40th year of a Juneteenth celebration.

So I started reading about why they do it and why it's continued to be such a strong program.

It's because of the programming that they offer.

- [Bill] In Buffalo, Juneteenth is really big.

Mayor Byron Brown and New York Governor Kathy Hochul in their parade.

Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Galveston, Texas, Juneteenth program's big there too.

- [Group] We are, we are!

- [Bill] Detroit's parade planners are thinking ahead.

- [Group] We are, we are!

- Next year I wanna talk about the CROWN Act and how African-Americans have been discriminated against for wearing their natural hair to work.

And this is a part of Juneteenth.

It's about a part of the Juneteenth training.

- [Bill] The CROWN Act, more recent history, signed into law this month by Michigan's governor.

- That you could be accepted as you are for who you are and enjoying the same freedoms as all folks.

(upbeat band music) - Thanks to Juneteenth, maybe this is an opportunity to begin for these students to not only just watch TikTok for the fun stuff but also begin to pay attention to things that will affect them in the future.

And so hopefully they'll be prepared.

And I'm going to use it, and I have been using it as an opportunity to guide our students to look within so they can determine who they actually are which takes a lot of work.

And you can do it in a celebratory way.

It can be done, but just the cookout isn't enough.

- Thank you for the red, the black and the green.

Did I mention we are free?

Free to change your mind.

Free to go most anywhere, anytime.

You are free to break the chains.

I'm not sure you understand.

The war is over.

(crowd applauding) Happy Juneteenth.

I love y'all.

Thank you so much.