What to know about SF's Juneteenth parade and festival

Juneteenth isn't until the 19th but it's coming to San Francisco early with the city's official parade and celebration this weekend.

Why it matters: Even though San Francisco's Black population has dwindled over the past several decades, the city-sanctioned celebration symbolizes freedom for the Black people who are still here, Sheryl Davis, executive director of the city's Human Rights Commission, told KQED .

Driving the news: Saturday's Juneteenth parade begins at 11am on Market and Spear streets and will be immediately followed by a festival at Civic Center Plaza until 6pm.

• The festival will feature live performances from San Francisco rappers Larry June and Stunnaman02 , Oakland-based singer Goapele and others.

What they're saying: "The people in the parade are grateful to be seen, whether it's by one person or 1,000," Davis said.

• "And to know the streets were shut down to celebrate their culture — in a town where people often talk about how many Black folks have left the city, but they don't mention the people who still live here."

By the numbers: Black people comprise just 4.6% of San Francisco's 808,000 residents, according to Census data .

• From 1970 to 2010, the city's Black population decreased by 50% to less than 49,000 as a result of urban renewal , redlining , increased housing costs and more, according to a 2020 San Francisco Human Rights Commission report.

Context: Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

• It recognizes the day the last enslaved people in Texas learned about their freedom under the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865.
• That was about two months after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered in Virginia and more than two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation .

Flashback: Celebrations began in San Francisco in 1945, when Wesley Johnson, Sr. rode down Fillmore Street on a white horse, according to the city's Juneteenth website .

• Johnson, who came to San Francisco from Texas in the 1920s, sought to bring his "corner of Texas to San Francisco and show them how it's really done."
• But the celebration didn't become city-sponsored until last year , when San Francisco hosted its first official parade and celebration.

What's next: Beyond Saturday's celebration, there will be a host of other Juneteenth events throughout the city this month, including a festival in the Fillmore on June 15 and one in Bayview Hunters Point on June 16.

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