{"id":671,"date":"2026-06-19T10:32:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=671"},"modified":"2026-06-19T10:32:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T10:32:28","slug":"juneteenth-parade-organizer-oscar-vicks-says-event-is-about-freedom-equality-and-justice-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=671","title":{"rendered":"Juneteenth Parade organizer Oscar Vicks says event is about \u2018freedom, equality and justice for all\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In 1999, when Oscar Vicks began organizing San Antonio\u2019s annual Juneteenth parade, he was one of five people who marched down W.W. White Road with one float to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd we were going down the street like we had the biggest parade in town,\u201d Vicks recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s parade starts at Sam Houston High School at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 20. The parade follows a 3.2-mile route down the Eastside roadway to Comanche Park. <\/p>\n

Vicks leads the effort with co-chair Vera Williams-Young, a local businesswoman.<\/p>\n

What is Juneteenth?<\/h4>\n

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when a Union Army general ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the Civil War.<\/p>\n

The first Juneteenth celebrations began in 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in 1979.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In San Antonio, informal events began in the late 1800s and official parades marking the event began around 1980.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Born in Arkansas, Vicks was living in Memphis in April 1968 when the civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.was assassinated. He still recalls where he was and what he was doing when he learned that King had died and the city erupted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His parents locked him in the house to keep him from joining the riots.<\/p>\n

Vicks was drafted during the Vietnam War. After sustaining an injury, the U.S. Army shipped Vicks to San Antonio in 1970 for medical care.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I get back home, we\u2019ve got a colored restaurant, a colored water fountain, a colored restroom,\u201d said Vicks, incredulous that he fought for his somebody else\u2019s rights, but he had none.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been protesting ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

A church pastor, Rev. Sherman Clifton Byrd, asked the Arkansas native to help organize the Juneteenth parade.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The parade has grown in numbers since. \u201cLast year we \u2026 had over 1,000 people in the parade. So we\u2019re looking for it to be bigger and better this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

A growing event<\/h4>\n

The nonprofit Juneteenth Freedom Coalition raises funds for the annual event through sponsorships and a banquet, and sells T-shirts and a souvenir book. Money also comes from what Vicks called \u201cgut givers,\u201d people who donate out of kindness.<\/p>\n

One of the largest donors is the Spurs organization, he said. So the annual parade often features a Spurs-themed float alongside a Juneteenth float decorated red, yellow and green, in addition to the Sam Houston band and others.<\/p>\n

This year, donations for the parade came in lieu of flowers for a funeral.<\/p>\n

Vicks\u2019 wife Doris died May 28 at age 79. The couple had been married 54 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d wake up every morning, [and say] \u2018Miss Vicks, Miss Vicks, how you feel this morning?\u2019 She always said, \u2018I\u2019m OK, honey,\u2019 but this time she ain\u2019t say nothing,\u201d Vicks said.<\/p>\n

Just four weeks prior they had preselected their caskets and made other arrangements for a future burial at Fort Sam National Cemetery. Doris chose a blue dress for the grave and hung it on the closet door, he said.<\/p>\n

At the June 9 funeral, the Bexar County Buffalo Soldiers served as pallbearers. Vicks is a lifetime member of the organization that educates the public about the history and legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers and Black Indian Scouts.<\/p>\n

But now for the first time, he won\u2019t have Doris to help with the parade. He has asked his sister Sherry Thompson to step in.<\/p>\n

The parade must go on after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I just got one goal I want to prove \u2014\u00a0I want to prove that we can get together and fight for liberty, equality, and justice for all,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our theme. You don\u2019t see that every year. Freedom, equality and justice for all, not just Black folk, you know, for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Meet the San Antonio man who organizes the city’s annual Juneteenth parade as a way to fight for justice and freedom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-live-like-a-local"],"yoast_head":"\nJuneteenth Parade organizer Oscar Vicks says event is about \u2018freedom, equality and justice for all\u2019 - San Antonio moving report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sanantoniomovingreport.com\/?p=671\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Juneteenth Parade organizer Oscar Vicks says event is about \u2018freedom, equality and justice for all\u2019 - 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