Thousands of DC residents gather downtown to celebrate Emancipation Day

WASHINGTON — Thousands of D.C. residents gathered at Freedom Plaza to commemorate the 161st anniversary of Emancipation Day.

On April 16, 1862, more than 3,000 enslaved people were finally freed from bondage in the District.

This year, D.C. leaders honored that moment in time by holding a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue and subsequent concerts with well-known artists like Rakim, Black Alley, and Dru Hill.

WUSA9 anchors Lesli Foster and Lorenzo Hall emceed the event. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser also walked in the parade.

Maryland resident Lou Fields came downtown to watch the early afternoon parade.

“We honor [the freed DC residents], particularly because they’re so nameless and faceless, but we know they were here.”

D.C. resident Marcus Chavis added that D.C.’s Emancipation Day, which took place eight months before the Emancipation Proclamation, is a moment in time all District residents should remember annually.

“It’s important to know the history of where we have come from as a Black race and as a community,” he said.

LaToya Foster, D.C.’s Director of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment, said the event also served as another reminder as to why D.C. should be a state.

“We need to be equal,” she said. “We need to be fair.”

A severe thunderstorm did delay part of the event, but only for thirty minutes.