Trailblazer: The Honorable Elaine O’Neal Named Grand Marshal Of NC MLK Black History Month Parade

DURHAM, NC – History Maker and former Durham Mayor, the Honorable Elaine O’Neal, has been named Grand Marshal of the 21st Annual NC MLK Black History Month Parade. The Parade, presented by Spectacular Magazine and Triangle Cultural Awareness Foundation, will occur on Feb. 3, 2024, on Fayetteville Street. 

Elaine is a trailblazer: she was a District Court Judge for 17 years and was the first woman in Durham County to be named Chief District Court Judge. In the 1990s, she was a pioneer and advocate as a judge around same-sex adoption, supporting LGBTQ families in North Carolina.

In 2011, O’Neal was elected the first woman Superior Court Judge in Durham County. In 2015, she was appointed Chair of the Superintendent’s Code of Student Conduct Task Force for Durham Public Schools, where she worked to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. She retired from the bench in 2018 to lead the NCCU School of Law as Interim Dean.

In 2018, Mayor Steve Schewel appointed her as Chair of the Racial Equity Task Force for the City of Durham, where she led a diverse cross-section of Durhamites to create policy and budget recommendations on complex issues.

In 2021, O’Neal won in the Durham general election on November 2nd and officially assumed office as Mayor on December 6, 2021. On June 22, 2023, she announced she would not seek re-election.

Elaine O’Neal is a native of Durham, North Carolina, growing up in the West End Community. She was educated at Lyon Park, Morehead Elementary, Rogers-Herr Jr. High, and the great Hillside High School, where she graduated in the class of 1980 with honors. She fondly claims that her position as a Flag Girl Co-Captain in the Hillside Marching Band was her first leadership role and one of the highlights of her life. She attended North Carolina Central University, pledged Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., while there, and graduated Cum Laude with a BS in Math in 1984. She went on to earn her Juris Doctor from the NCCU Law School.

The Parade, celebrating Black culture, people, and businesses, starts at 12 noon at Shepard IB Magnet Middle School (2401 Dakota St.), proceeds up Elmira Street, makes a left onto Fayetteville Street, and ends at NCCU. 

The Southeast Tourism Society recently named the NC MLK Black History Month Parade “One of the 20 Best Events in the Southeast” and allows us to reflect upon the past while seeking hope, determination, and opportunity to act upon the promise of the future.

Spectacular Magazine and Triangle Cultural Awareness Foundation present the NC MLK Black History Month Parade. To register to participate in the Parade, click here.

Spectacular Magazine is North Carolina’s premier Black magazine, providing a news and information digital platform with investigative articles, features, sports, entertainment, lifestyles, columns, calendars, and commentaries that empower, enlighten, and entertain its readers. Spectacular Magazine was previously named Spectacular Entertainment Guide when it launched in November 2004. In 2006, the name was changed to Spectacular Magazine, and the focus became and still is, issues that affect Black people.