City commemorates Black History Month with parade, celebration

Published 9:01 am Tuesday, February 7, 2023

ual Black History Month Parade and Celebration was held in downtown Thomasville, beginning on Broad St. and ending on Jackson St. 

Bonnie Hayes, City of Thomasville’s director of tourism, said that the event was a collaboration between the City of Thomasville and the Black History Month committee that is made up of members of the community, such as Lucinda Brown, president of the Thomas County NAACP branch, who served as the community spokesperson for the committee. 

“Our office, the office of downtown and tourism development, through the City of Thomasville, works in coordination with the Black History Month committee to orchestrate this entire event,” Hayes said. “It’s a city sponsored event, but we have been working with the wonderful members of the community who have made up a committee that has really directed our efforts with this event.”

The event was comprised of a parade through downtown Thomasville and a celebration afterward at the Ritz Amphitheater, according to Hayes. She added that they had one of the highest participations in the parade this year, with that, in part, due to the efforts of Morris Arrington, one of the members of the committee. 

“The parade was wonderful, we had beautiful weather, we had one of the highest participation rates that we have ever had with the Black History Month parade,” Hayes said. “We had over a hundred entrees in the parade and that was really due, in part, to one of the committee members, Morris Arrington, reaching out personally to members of the community to have them sign up and participate in the parade.”

At the Ritz Amphitheater, Hayes said that attendees enjoyed an entertaining lineup of different performances, from “Life Every Voice and Sing” sung by Khabriya Brown to live music by the Steve Walden Band and more. 

“Once the parade ended and we went over to the Ritz Amphitheater, it was just a fun, enthusiastic and exciting entertainment line up,” she said. “Everything from drum line to step shows, to elementary school performances by Scott’s School and music by the Steve Walden Band.”

Hayes said the event was a truly wonderful experience that everybody and anybody in Thomasville had the opportunity to enjoy.

“Truly it was a wonderful event that everybody and anybody in the community had the opportunity to enjoy,” she said. 

Ucher Dent, the Thomas County Woman of the Year, served as Grand Marshal of the 5th Annual Black History Month Parade.