‘We’re bridging that gap.’ A new generation leads Como’s historic July 4 celebrations
Just over 70 years ago, newspaper publisher William H. Wilburn recognized an opportunity to bring an Independence Day celebration to the streets of Lake Como. At the time, many residents of the historically Black Fort Worth neighborhood couldn’t easily get to the downtown parade. Once they arrived, Black spectators were segregated from white visitors.
“Doc” Wilburn, as he was affectionately known, envisioned something different. On July 4, 1950, elaborate parade floats and men on horseback marched for the first time, kicking off a day of speeches and family activities.
Editions of Wilburn’s Lake Como Weekly trumpeted the annual event as a homecoming for old friends and a chance for Black residents to celebrate freedom on their own terms.
“He was a strong advocate for making sure that his people had what they needed,” said John Hudson, who took over as parade organizer in the mid-1980s at Wilburn’s request. “Those were the kind of people that pioneered this community.”
After canceling in 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns, the Como Day Parade will celebrate its 70th year on Monday at 10 a.m., beginning at 4900 Horne St. in west Fort Worth. While the event now attracts more than 3,000 spectators and nearly 200 participants, not much has changed about its mission, or Hudson’s desire to honor the community’s rich history.
The labor associated with putting the parade together is often draining, but Hudson continues because of the promise he made to Wilburn and other Como leaders more than 30 years ago.
“His words were: ‘Keep it for the community, don’t commercialize it,’” Hudson said, his voice cracking with emotion. “Especially Black folks, everyone was poor out here, nobody had nothing. But they tried to do their best to keep it going and settle this community and keep it from being in trouble … They would put their nickels and pennies together and they would get it done.”
A new generation of Como leaders is picking up where their ancestors left off, including Hudson’s son, Marcus. He serves as president of LEGACY, a group of Black men who have come together to organize the neighborhood’s first-ever ComoFest — a family-friendly event set for Saturday from 4 to 10 p.m. at 5536 Bonnell Ave.
Energies have historically run high on July 3, when friends who have moved out of Como return to the neighborhood for what feels like a giant family reunion, according to Marcus Hudson.
“You look around the world, and anytime people are celebrating freedom, the energy is always like that,” he said. “So it’s never been organized … and many don’t know the history of it, so it’s misinterpreted by the youth and they’re just out there running wild.”
Police presence
Fort Worth police have had a presence in the community on July 3 for the past several years due to complaints from neighbors about large, raucous crowds and potential violence, Officer Tracey Carter, a department spokesman, told the Star-Telegram last year.
After meeting with the Como Neighborhood Advisory Council in the mid-2010s, police agreed to help with crowd control and keep intersections clear, Carter said. But tensions rose last year when a large number of officers and state troopers arrived in Como amid confusion about the parade’s cancellation.
The incident prompted concerns about over-policing in the majority-Black community, particularly since thousands of North Texans had recently protested police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minnesota.
At the time, neighborhood advisory council member Estrus Tucker said community leaders should have done more to communicate why police were on the scene. A few citations were issued, but there were no reports of force or arrests by police, according to Carter.
“We heard from many residents who were concerned with the number of police, but there are also many residents who are familiar with what happens on July 3,” Tucker said. “If we would have known in advance about the troopers, we could have prevented the confusion. They were only there to man the barricade. They had no law enforcement role, but the visual of them added to the tension.”
ComoFest is LEGACY’s answer to those ongoing challenges. Organizers coordinated with Fort Worth police to develop security and evacuation plans, and the department has been supportive, according to LEGACY members.
One promotional flyer, posted on the group’s Facebook page, states: “This event was created to show we can come together as a Community and Police ourselves so there will be certain rules.” Those rules include bans on alcohol, drugs, weapons, fighting and any bags except for diaper bags.
ComoFest
Beyond holding a safe event, LEGACY wants to channel Como pride into a positive environment for the community’s youth as well as older neighbors, Marcus Hudson said. ComoFest will include live musical performances, local vendors and special presentations throughout the night.
“We’re bridging that gap between the old and the young, and telling them that you are standing on shoulders, that you are representing people that helped establish this community,” he said. “We understand both sides, we understand the history. We feel like we have that advantage.”
It’s the first time that LEGACY has hosted an event of this magnitude, according to Montaque Criddell, who grew up alongside the other members. The group started with cleanups of the Lake Como Cemetery, which had fallen into disrepair, and then a few fundraisers, including one for the Eugene Crosier Memorial Day Care Center.
But ComoFest is on a different level. Jeremy Drake, a LEGACY organizer, said he doesn’t mind the hard work but can’t wait for it to be 10:30 on Saturday, when the most difficult parts of the festival are behind them.
“We are working as a collective to get it done, and it’s a stressful event,” said Michael Lockhart, a fellow LEGACY member. “But I think our love for Como, what we want for Como, overrides everything.”
The elder Hudson said he is proud to see Marcus and his childhood friends follow in his footsteps with an idea of their own. ComoFest earned recognition from City Council members last week, where LEGACY members met the legendary Fort Worth activist Opal Lee.
Kelton Russell, who is helping to lead LEGACY’s youth mentorship efforts, said the best part of creating ComoFest has been doing it alongside his “brothers,” many of whom used to pile into John Hudson’s pickup truck on their way to peewee football practices.
“When Mr. Hudson talks about Doc Wilburn, that’s how we feel about him,” Russell said. “For us to be able to come together to do something for our community, with all of us as brothers, for the people who poured into us, it’s gonna be beautiful.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2021 at 2:47 PM.
