As a child, Lee’Anthony Dawson drove a go-kart through Austin’s Juneteenth parade while his father walked alongside him. Years later, Lee’Anthony now spends Juneteenth behind the scenes, helping guide the parade his father, Lee Dawson Jr., has helped organize for about 20 years.
For many attendees and organizers, Austin’s Juneteenth parade stands as more than a celebration of the holiday’s Texas roots. As East Austin’s Black population spreads across Central Texas due to rising housing costs and gentrification, community members said the annual event serves as a chance to return to a neighborhood that shaped generations of Black Austinites.
“For us, that’s a homecoming,” said Tonya Pleasant-Wright, an East Austin native and festival vendor. “This is opportunities you get to see people you grew up with, or went to school with or people that you know from church.”
Pleasant-Wright said some of her strongest memories of Juneteenth are marked by the relationships that once defined East Austin. Growing up, she remembers families gathering along the parade route and neighbors saving spots for one another.
“You have certain families that had houses that came down that route,” Pleasant-Wright said. “We would go and park at (a friend’s grandmother’s) house and sit under her neighbor’s tree, and we knew them and they would save a spot for us.”
As longtime residents moved to communities like Pflugerville, Manor and Georgetown, Pleasant-Wright said those traditions became harder to maintain.
“The homes are gone, the families have moved on, people have sold or been bought out and our presence is very scarce,” Pleasant-Wright said.
Despite changes in the community, organizers said Juneteenth continues to bring people back. Lee said many former East Austin residents now travel from across Central Texas and beyond to participate in the celebration.
“This is the time to come back and be able to look and see where they came from,” Lee said.
For Lee, preserving the celebration is also about ensuring it outlives the people who currently organize it. The Juneteenth parade and festival serve as the primary fundraiser for the Greater East Austin Youth Association, and many of the volunteers who help run the event are members of Lee’s own family. Lee’s wife and their kids work Juneteenth alongside him. Helping organize the Juneteenth parade has become a family tradition passed from one generation to the next.
“Now, my sons are at the park with me while I’m working Juneteenth,” Lee’Anthony said. “It was just from the knowledge I got from my dad, and that he got from his dad.”
Looking ahead, Lee’Anthony said he hopes the celebration can continue honoring its roots in East Austin while bringing together residents from across the city.
“I want this to be celebrated in Austin, the whole Austin – South Austin, North Austin, West Austin,” Lee’Anthony said. “All coming together for one big celebration.”
For Pleasant-Wright, the future of Juneteenth in Austin is rooted in the same sense of community that has kept people returning year after year.
“I love my people. I love being Black,” Pleasant-Wright said. “Whether they’re here or not, I’m still gonna be here.”
