28th Annual Black Cowboys Parade
Oakland -- Thousands of spectators are expected to line the streets Saturday when the 28th annual Black Cowboys Parade makes its way from West Oakland to downtown.

Organizers will start setting up at 7:00 a.m. at DeFremery Park at 18th and Adeline streets, and a reviewing stand next to City Hall should be ready by 8:00 a.m.

The parade leaves the park at 11:00 a.m. and heads along 14th Street to the reviewing stand. It continues on Broadway to 13th Street to return to the park, where at 1:00 p.m. there will be live music and other entertainment, food vendors, and booths with information on various city services and projects.

Trophies will be awarded at 3:00 p.m. to outstanding civic leaders. Planners expect the music will go until 6 p.m. Previous parades have drawn 5,000 to 6,000 spectators.

"This is Oakland's longest-running parade, and what's remarkable is that we have never had any problems in our history," said Charles Hill, treasurer of the Black Cowboys Association.

"No other city in the country has something like this, and this helps to project something positive about Oakland." U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) will be the grand marshal, and Soul Beat TV (Channel 27 Oakland cable) will videotape the event. It is normally broadcast later in the day and re-aired during the Thanksgiving holiday season.

"This parade is important for the community because our children need to know more about the heritage of the black cowboy," said Hill.

"Black historians tell us that the black cowboy helped win the West and one in four cowboys in the 'Old West' was African American.

"This is why we have been going out to the schools in Oakland and the black churches and supporting the horse stables in the city, because many inner city children don't have much exposure to horses."

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