On June 19th, ESBC would like to invite you to the 1st Annual Juneteenth Major Taylor Ride. Come celebrate Juneteenth with us at the park. We will meet at 10 AM, Freedom Park (Foot of Ferry). We will make a stop at the Buffalo Museum of Science to briefly join GObike , Independent Health and children who will be particpating in a book reading about the great Major Taylor who raced in Buffalo.
Freedom Park is was the last stop to freedom for many slaves seeking freedom.
American bicycle racer Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor (1878-1932) was the world’s first black sports superstar. He was world cycling champion in 1899, American sprint champion in 1900, and set numerous track cycling records. Nicknamed “Major” in his youth in Indianapolis and later known as “the Worcester Whirlwind” after his adopted hometown in Massachusetts, he was the second African-American world champion in any sport (after Canadian-born bantamweight boxer George Dixon of Boston won his title in 1891). In the Jim Crow era of strict racial segregation, Taylor had to fight prejudice just to get on the starting line. He faced closed doors and open hostility with remarkable dignity. In his retirement he wrote his autobiography, “The Fastest Bicycle Rider in the World.
