National Puerto Rican Day Parade 2016: Rosario Dawson, Carmelo Anthony And More Named as Honorees
On Sunday, June 12, New York City will hold its National Puerto Rican Day Parade and there will be plenty of successful Latinos taking part in the celebration.
According to the official website for the 59th annual parade, which makes its way down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, actress Rosario Dawson will serve as queen and basketball star Carmelo Anthony as king.
Both Dawson, known for her roles in Netflix's "Daredevil," "Sin City" and "Cesar Chavez," and Anthony, a forward for the New York Knicks, grew up in households with one Puerto Rican parent and are both New York City natives.
Serving as this year's grand marshal will be singer Ednita Nazario, while television personality Giselle Blondet and actor Eric Delko will serve as the parade's godmother and godfather.
Named the 2016 Boricua Superstar is Jeimy Osorio, who is known for her role of young Celia Cruz in the Telemundo series about the Cuban icon's life.
Salsa music star Andy Montañez and retired baseball player Candy Maldonado have been named as lifetime achievement honorees.
While the parade is an annual event, parade chairwoman Lorraine Cortes-Vasquez explained, during a press event in May, that a decision had to be made about going through with festivities year.
“This year, in the face of the situation and crisis in Puerto Rico, it was not an easy decision,” she said. “We went back and forth: Should we celebrate? Should we have a parade? “What we decided was that there’s no better time for us to be on Fifth Ave., having our students and leadership representing the best of our community."
Check out footage from the 2015 Puerto Rican Day Parade here:
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