Photos: More Than 1 Million Watched The 2016 Bud Billiken Parade

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Aug 15, 2016 2:52PM

Over 1 million people gathered on the South Side this weekend to enjoy the 2016 Bud Billiken Parade—an annual Chicago tradition that takes place in Bronzeville and winds its way over a two-mile parade route to Washington Park.

The Bud Billliken Parade, founded in 1929, is heralded as the largest African-American parade in the United States, with the goal of promoting education for underprivileged youth. This year, the parade grand marshal was Katherine Branch, a White House official in the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. Actress Keisha Rose from Netflix's Silent Whispers, activist Ja'Mal Green, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., and Cheryl Mainor, the publisher of the historic black newspaper the Chicago Defender also participated in the parade.