March On, Harlem: Annual African American Day Parade Is This Weekend

HARLEM, NY – There’s a party in Harlem this weekend, and everybody’s invited.

The 56th annual African American Day Parade is on Sunday. The festivities open with a pre-parade show at 11 a.m. on 125th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard.

The parade forms on Adam Clayton Powell at West 111th Street, and floats, marchers, and more head north on Adam Clayton Powell toward 137th Street, where the route ends.

This year’s parade will honor African Americans in education, the website said. This year's theme?

“EDUCATION IS OUR #1 PRIORITY.”

Grand marshals this year include State Senator Cordell Cleare, Karyn White, a two-time Grammy-nominated musician, film producer, actor and cultural icon, and two media personalities: Eyewitness News Anchor Sandra Bookman and Community Affairs Director at WBLS 107.5 FM Dr. Bob Lee.

Three presidents of historic Black universities are also going to be grand marshals at the parade, including Delaware State University's Dr. Tony Allen, Medgar Evers College's Dr. Patricia Ramsey and Grambling State University's Dr. Martin Lemelle Jr.

Joy Bivins, the director of the New York Public Library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, is also a grand marshal.

Marshals include three local school principals, including Pugsley Preparatory Academy's Jean Jeanty, Amber Charter School's Francina Yaw-Costello, and Uniondale High School's Dr. Shawn Brown.

"This year’s African American Day Parade comes at an incredible time for Black people, and all those of the African Diaspora," Cleare said. "We have reactivated Malcolm X Plaza as a beacon of culture, music, education, and enrichment. We named the underlying subway station after Malcolm X. We created the Harlem Renaissance Cultural District. The New York State Community Commission on Reparations Remedies continues to take testimony in anticipation of a final report."

The first African American Day Parade was held in 1969, one year after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Grand Marshals that year were the man for whom 7th Avenue was renamed, then-Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress.

Over the years, other Grand Marshals have included Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson, former New York City Mayor David Dinkins, and Congressman Charles Rangel, to name a few.

If you attend, expect floats, marching bands, dancing, and a whole lot of celebration.

Here are all the road closures to look out for:

Formation:

• Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd between West 110th Street and West 111th Street
• West 110th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard and Lenox Avenue
• West 115th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard and Lenox Avenue
• West 111th Street-West 114th Street between Fredrick Douglass Boulevard and Lenox Avenue
• St Nicholas Avenue between West 113th Street and West 114th Street

Route:

• Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard between West 111th Street and West 136th Street

Dispersal:

• Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard between West 136th Street and West 140th Street
• West 135th Street -W137th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard and Lenox Avenue
• Lenox Avenue between West 136th Street and West 139th Street

Miscellaneous:

• West 126th Street between Lenox Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard
• West 125th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard
• Frederick Douglas Boulevard between West 127th Street and West 128th Street
• Lenox Avenue between West 132nd Street and West 133rd Street
• Lenox Avenue between West 136th Street and West 140th Street
• St Nicholas Avenue between Adam Clayton Powell Jr Boulevard and West 115th Street
• West 132nd Street between Lenox Avenue and 5th Avenue

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.