______ __________ __________ _____________ Taylor Juneteenth celebrates inclusiveness
Dozens of volunteers and hundreds of volunteer hours culminate next week in a three-day celebration of Juneteenth in Taylor.
“I’m really proud of the way Taylor celebrates its diversity,” said City Council member Gerald Anderson. We’re the first town in Williamson County to celebrate Pride as a city and we have the only Juneteeth parade in Central Texas that’s actually on June 19.”
The celebration is put on by a Juneteenth committee with members from City of Taylor, Dickey Museum, Bill Pickett Educational Foundation, Blackshear OL Price Ex-Students Association, Southside Community Engagement, The First Baptist Church, OLH Foundation, Salvation Church and Braided Faded Crew. Sponsorships from Samsung Austin Semiconductor, Atmos Energy, Texas Commission on the Arts and Boys & Girls Club of East Williamson County support the events.
Nakevia Miller is the chair of the citywide Juneteenth committee and vice president of the board for the Dickey Museum & Multipurpose Center. She said it’s rewarding to see the collaborative effort Taylor makes to create an event that is inclusive of everyone.
“Last year, Juneteenth aligned with the city’s new policy around citysponsored events and it aligned with my personal mission and my community work, which is to create more unity and collaboration within the community and to create a leadership pipeline,” Miller said. “I started thinking about how I could start to heal some of the politics that were keeping people separated.”
Taylor had a parade decades ago, Miller recalls, but last year marked the f first time in recent history people marched down Main Street to celebrate the ideals of Juneteenth and the emancipation of slaves in Texas.
The holiday does double duty in Taylor. Alumni of OL Price school, Taylor’s Black school before desegregation pushed all local students to Taylor High School, celebrate a reunion each year around Juneteenth. This year, Miller says they will be honoring the class of 1965, the final graduating class of the school.
“We all want to keep the history alive but we also want to build a community that feels like their voices are heard,” she said. “I don’t necessarily believe that freedom is exclusive to one party or another. This is a celebration of freedom becaues the traditional representation doesn’t necessarily represent all humans. We are inviting everyone to celebrate in solidarity.”
The festivities will start June 14 at 6 p.m. at the Dickey-Givens Community Center, 1015 E. Martin Luther Kind, Jr. Blvd., with a meet and greet game night honoring OL Price High School class of 1965. On June 15, the committee will host a freedom festival at Fannie Robinson Park, 206 S. Dolan St., beginning at 5 p.m. with a gospel fest, live entertainment, free Kona Ice, children’s activities and vendors.
The celebration commences on June 19 with a parade starting at 9 a.m. followed by a free brunch in Fannie Robinson Park immediately afterward.
The parade travels up Fifth Street to Main Street before traveling south to Fannie Robinson Park, where it ends.
Anderson says he is excited about the event, the collaboration of so many entities that make it possible, and the fact that Taylor celebrates Pride Month and Juneteenth so boldly.
“We don’t mind taking the lead in Taylor and setting an example for other people to follow by being proud of our diverse heritage,” he said.
Last year, a group of local riders represented the Taylor Bike Co. in the Juneteenth parade. Photos by Jason Hennington
The First Baptist Church Youth Department placed first in the driving entries of last year’s parade.
