By Carrie McLendon 

In honor of the Juneteenth holiday, the second annual Freedom Day Parade was held in Downtown Troy on June 14 at 9 a.m. Following the parade, a community celebration was held at Murphree Park hosted by the Omicron Tau Sigma chapter of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

Juneteenth is a holiday in the U.S. that has been celebrated annually since 1866 on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery. It became recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 and was made a state holiday in Alabama in 2025.

The Freedom Day Parade marched down Elm Street and through Downtown Troy and ended at Murphree park. The parade consisted of various community members and groups marching in the name of freedom and unity.

A number of groups, organizations and individuals took part in the parade. Those that marched in the march includes City of Troy Recycling, the NAACP, Sigma Gamma Rho, Zeta Phi Beta, Ashley N. Mallory Attorney at Law, the Pike County High School Homecoming Queen, Ta-Seti Temple 253, Bethel Missionary Baptist Church, Little Miss Troy, Future Little Miss Brundidge, Ridin’ Dirty 4 Wheeler Club, Springfield Missionary Baptist Church, House of Grace Church, Me Time, Omega Psi Phi, Baby Miss Brundidge, Miss Brundidge, Wal-Mart, Petite Miss Brundidge, Tiny Miss Trojan, Real Estate Agent Miram Scott-Colton and Enuff Said Motorcycle Club. 

The Juneteenth celebration was held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and included local food trucks, guest speakers, live music, cultural vendors and community leaders.

One of the community leaders, Troy City councilwoman Wanda Moultry, shared her thoughts at the celebration.

“As a minority, we all have to stand together for the betterment of the City of Troy,” she said. “It’s all about us being resilient and seeing a change in our community.”

Councilwoman Sharon McSwain-Holland agrees, she shared her hopes of the community coming together and supporting each other.

“We need you all to be a part of what we do. We need your voices, your opinions, your thoughts so that we can adequately represent you all of this great city,” she said. “Each and every one of us counts.”

Members of Phi Beta Sigma shared how it feels to be able to host such an important celebration for the community.

“Putting this event on means everything to me,” said Omicron Tau Sigma chapter president James Barnes.

“This gives us a chance to remember the resilience, the equality and the justice that is Juneteenth. It gives us a chance to amplify not only the freedom, but the opportunities we have now,” said Phi Beta Sigma state director, Kevon Chesson. “Most importantly, it gives us a chance to be able to give back to our communities.”

The fraternity members also shared their favorite parts of being able to host this event.

“My favorite part is seeing everybody come together to work for the common good,” said Chesson. “Being able to see different vendors and people come together as a community and being able to just reflect and give appreciation for the event.”

“My favorite part about hosting this event is just seeing the community come out together, show love and support each other,” said Barnes. “You know we cry together, struggle together, fight together, but we come together and show love for the whole community of Troy.”

This is the second year of Phi Beta Sigma hosting this event and they hope that it continues to grow and become more successful each year.

“Last year it was really successful, we just wanted to make it bigger and get the word out,” said Barnes.