(WXMI) — Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free. It became a federal holiday three years ago.
Numerous celebrations were held across West Michigan this Wednesday in light of the occasion.
The “Justice 4 All Juneteenth Jam” was held at Calder Plaza in Grand Rapids. It’s the fourth time the event was put on, and organizers estimate 2,000–3,000 people attended.
Those people watched a break dance battle, listened to speeches from community leaders, and took the time to support Black-owned businesses.
“Juneteenth is like the true, like, Independence Day of, like, America when everybody was actually notified and deemed free,” says head organizer Julius Treez. “My goal for the event is honestly to just build it as hard as the Fourth of July event, or maybe even bigger."
Julius says it was incredible to watch the event grow from a few hundred attendees in its first year. He says they plan to make next year’s celebration bigger and better.
Holland’s Juneteenth event focused on education, with a particular emphasis on young people.
“It’s super important because with the younger crowd, that's where it starts. That's where they're being shaped and developed, and so the more festivals and just exposure to different cultures that they are able to have, the wider their scope is going to be of accepting others and their differences,” explains Lindsay Cherry, co-founder and co-executive director of I Am Academy.
The Downtown Holland Farmers Market and Heritage District Library teamed up with I Am Academy to read stories to attendees.
Cherry says it’s important for Juneteenth to be recognized and celebrated in U.S. cities big and small.
“It should be celebrated across the nation because when there's an injustice anywhere, there's injustice everywhere,” she says.
Over in Muskegon, kids were the focus in the city’s inaugural Youth Juneteenth Parade.
Michelle Tyson, founder and CEO of Taking Back Muskegon, organized the event.
“What we did was we took our after-school programs and summer programs and combined them all and just wanted to see what the kids thought about Juneteenth,” says Tyson.
She tells us Juneteenth presented an opportunity for children on summer vacation to celebrate the holiday.
“This is the first year that is actually a holiday, a legal holiday,” says Tyson. “So [Mr. Watts] was like, ‘You know what? The kids are out of school. Let's have an old-fashioned, … good old parade where the kids lead it and just have some fun.”
Tyson expressed her gratitude to the city for helping make Wednesday’s parade a reality.
“I have to give a huge shout-out to the city of Muskegon for opening their arms, doors, for us for this Juneteenth Celebration,” says Tyson. “When I approached them, they were like, ‘You know what? This will be the first.’ … They just welcomed the idea in offered to help in any way they could.”
Tyson says she’s already planning for next year’s parade.
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