Here are photos from my first experience photographing the Bud Billiken Parade in the Bronzeville Neighborhood of Chicago. I'm a homegrown Chicagoan who grew up on the Southside of the city and was familiar with Bronzeville because of it's proximity to Hyde Park where the Alexander Family had restaurants and lived as Greek immigrants in the early party of the 20th century. As a class assignment from Robert Steigler who can be seen in Frame 26A who was my most esteemed photography instructor and motivator of shooting street photography from the University of Illinois, Chicago down I went on the CTA Bus to document the parade. Little did I know that so many years later that these photos would be seen in my solo exhibit called, "Gather Together: Street Photography by Diane Alexander White" at the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago. Firstly let's shout our to Marjorie Stewart Joynerin Frame 00A who was an entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. She invented the Permanent Wave Machine, oversaw the 200 beauty schools for Madam C.J Walker and was one of the founders of the Bud Billiken Parade. The question remains as to who do you know in these photos? Please share with your family and friends and hopefully we can add to the history of the Bud Billiken Parade and legacy of Black History in Chicago! Watch an interview with me that talks about the Bud Billiken Parade at my solo exhibit called, "Gather Together: Street Photography by Diane Alexander White."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bud_Billiken_Parade_and_Picnic The Bud Billiken Parade and Picnic is an annual parade held since 1929 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bud Billiken Day Parade is the largest African-American parade in the United States of America. Held annually on the second Saturday in August with a parade route that travels down Martin Luther King Drive through the Bronzeville and Washington Park neighborhoods on the city's Southside. At the end of the parade there is a picnic and festival in the historic Washington public park. Robert S. Abbott who was the founder and publisher of the Chicago Defender, created the fictional character of Bud Billiken, which he featured in as youth advice column in his paper. David Kellum, co-founder of the Bud Billiken Club and longtime parade coordinator suggests that the parade be a celebration of African-American life and a kick-off to the school year. Since its beginning, the parade has featured celebrities, politicians, businessmen, civic organizations and youth. It is considered the second largest parade in the United States, whose focus is on celebrating youth, education and African-American life. The parade is also cited as the "back-to-school" celebration, marking the end of summer vacation and resuming of school for Chicago's youth.
