Native Omaha Days

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Native Omaha Days is an bi-annual event in North Omaha, Nebraska celebrating the community's historical and cultural legacies.

1 About
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

[edit] About

Celebrated as a "warm, communal homecoming... [that] expresses the deep ties that bind the city’s African-American community", Native Omaha Days are, "a time when natives long moved away return to roll with family and friends."^[1] Marked by a formal week and informal month of traditional community and family reunions, dances and picnics, a parade and the "Blue Monday" celebratory gatherings at local "watering holes", Native Omaha Days have been celebrated for more than 80 years. People come from across the United States to participate in the events.^[2] According to one source, "It started out with about 10 people and it grew. We’ve had as many as 2,000 attend."^[3] Recently a golf tournament has been included, as well.^[4]

A hallmark of Native Omaha Days is the Evergreen Family Reunion, named after the rural Evergreen, Alabama, where more than 10 large North Omaha families originally emigrated from. One man born in Evergreen and raised in Omaha says the families were forced to leave. {{blockquote|Most of us came here because we had to. A lot of my relatives had to leave the South in the middle of the night. I was little, but I did see some of the things we were confronted with, like the Ku Klux Klan.^[5]

Actress Gabrielle Union's family was among those families, and she attends yearly^[6], along with professional football player Gale Sayers and Radio One founder and owner Cathy Hughes.^[7]

Another mainstay of Native Omaha Days is the Native Omaha Parade, with dozens of floats, marching bands, and politicians^[8], as well as many youth programs and organizations.

Native Omaha Days has been cited nationally as an example of a strong community building activity for African Americans, with many other cities seeking to replicate the event.^[9]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ (2005) The Days The Reader. 10 Aug 2005.
^ (1992) The Street of Dreams video. Nebraska Public Television
^ (2005) Omaha Reader.
^ (2005) [http://www.nativeomahadays.com/ Native Omaha Days Gold Tournament.
^ (2005) Omaha Reader.
^ (2005) "The Gabrielle Union Chronicles" The Reader. 29 Sep 2005.
^ (2005) Omaha Reader.
^ (2005) Photos from Native Omaha Days Nebraska Young Democrats.
^ Zaslow, J. (2006) "Moving On: You Can Go Home Again: Buffalo Tries To Reclaim Its Native Sons and Daughters", Wall Street Journal. August 17, 2006