In Pictures: As Coach Prime Remains Absent, Colorado Football Joins Community to Celebrate Freedom at Juneteenth Parade

The Colorado Buffaloes are one with Denver’s Juneteenth Parade in Denver! This important event marks the day the Texas slaves found out that they were free. Since then, it has become a core event with the festivities kicking off with one of Denver’s oldest Parades, starting at Manual High School and passing Welton Street to the Juneteenth Music Festival since the 1950s. 

This year sees thousands of Colorado citizens in a frenzy of celebration with Juneteenth this weekend. Founder of the Juneteenth Music Festival Norman Harris said, “It means everything. It’s an opportunity for our community to come together, see folks they haven’t seen and connect with resources. It’s a dynamic and immersive cultural experience.” Set in Denver’s historic Five Points neighborhood, the parade sees familiar CU Buffs players’ faces as they join in the celebration. 

Colorado football joins in the Juneteenth Parade in Denver

Coach Prime isn’t in the picture as the Buffs O-line joins the Juneteenth Parade in Denver. But as CU Buffs Football posted a carousel of photos on IG, it captured familiar faces. CU Buffs prominent players like Kahlil Benson, Justin Mayers, and Tyler Brown, are among others present at the event as they meshed in with the crowd in the celebration. 

This year, the Juneteenth Music Festival will be opened by rapper and actor Bow Wow followed by a string of local artists celebrating the rich cultural heritage and music of Denver. The CU Buffs are more than just football and the fact that this isn’t the first time they’re joining the parade shows their patriotism. 

The goal of participation revealed

In 2021, the CU Buffs joined the Historic Five Points Juneteenth Parade. It was then that assistant coach of women’s basketball Shandrika Lee revealed, “It’s important for our student-athletes to see us participating because we are a family and will always support our black student-athletes. We want to show them that they matter, their voices are heard. They give so much to the University of Colorado and it’s important we celebrate them.”

The cultural scenario in Colorado drastically changed after Deion Sanders’ first season in Colorado. After executing the Prime Effect in Boulder, CU has seen a phenomenal rise in applications with 68,000 students applying for the fall semester, 50% of the applications accounted for Black students. If Coach Prime remains in Colorado long-term, big changes are bound to happen in the cultural aspect.