Labor to March in DC Emancipation Day Parade Today
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Local
labor leaders and activists are once again
participating in the annual D.C.
Emancipation Day activities today. Emancipation
Day is an official public
holiday in the District of Columbia to remember
April 16, 1862 when President
Abraham Lincoln signed the DC Compensation
Emancipation Act into law, which
abolished slavery in the District and freed
3,100 enslaved persons. Each year
to honor and commemorate this historic event a
grand parade is held on
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW beginning at 11a on
4th Street NW and ending
at Freedom Plaza on 14th Street NW.
Participants include public
officials, government agencies, the DC schools,
the US military, churches,
universities, community organizations, and
more. Following the parade there
will be a live concert at Freedom Plaza with
performances by Talib Kweli, Doug
E. Fresh, DJ Kool, J. Ivy and DC's own Black
Alley Band; the concert kicks off
at 4p. photo: AFSCME Council
20 marches in the 2012 Emancipation Day Parade;
photo by Julia Kann/Union City