Celebrating Juneteenth

Juneteenth, short for June Nineteenth, commemorates June 19, 1865, the day federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved African Americans from bondage. Many African Americans were unaware that they had been freed. It took two years for them to get the news. In 2021, Juneteenth became America’s newest federal holiday. I read that “it’s a time “to gather and celebrate while reflecting on the past and looking toward the future”.

We’d never attended a Juneteenth event, so when we heard about the Juneteenth free fun run/walk and night market at the Pearson Community Center on the northwest side of town, we signed up. Coincidentally, the Red Cross was sponsoring a table so we participated in the event as Red Cross volunteers. We transported the equipment, set up a table, provided information about the Red Cross and the many services it provides to the community as well as tried to recruit new volunteers. After having worked medical conventions for most of my career, as soon as the booth was set up, my feet began to hurt. Luckily, there were four of us at the event, so we had plenty of time to take a tour of the other booths and chat with a few attendees and vendors.

Lively DJ music kept toes tapping. A glow foam pit delighted the kids and kept them cool. A few food trucks provided noshes and drinks. There were lots of vendors and service providers with booths and freebies.

The kids loved the foam pit

It seemed there were more vendors than there were fun run participants. I think the 95F (35C) temperatures doused the enthusiasm for fun runs and walks. Instead, folks drifted towards the shade and the small gallery of artwork featuring a Juneteenth group art exhibition inside the air-conditioned community center.

Juneteenth has long been celebrated by African Americans since the late 1860s, making it the longest-running African American holiday. In fact, Texas was the first state to make it an official state holiday in 1980. It's traditionally a time for family gatherings, community events, and cultural celebrations. From the New York Times, I learned that “Red food and drinks are traditionally served during the celebrations, including red velvet cake and strawberry soda, with red meant to represent resilience and joy.”

In some places, the Emancipation Proclamation is read and traditional hymns and freedom songs are sung along with the Blues. We didn’t witness any of this other than the art exhibition and some Juneteenth posters and flags, but we would have liked to.

We did, however, get to meet other volunteers as well as some of Las Vegas’ finest and a few attendees. We learned more about other community services. Having traveled out of state so much since we moved to Las Vegas, we have never really learned much about our local communities, so it was a worthwhile experience.