Lexington community celebrates Juneteenth
Organizers put on the Juneteenth festival with food trucks, vendors, kids activities and live entertainment.
LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- Sunday is Juneteenth, a day recognizing the end of slavery in the United States. The day became an official federal holiday last year.
“This is our day, our day of independence,” said M.L. Young, an organizer for Lexington’s Juneteenth Festival.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19th, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger led soldiers to Galveston, Texas to share the message that slavery had ended.
It came two months after the Civil War and more than two years since President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
“It was never talked about or thought about a whole lot until recently,” said Alicia Newby, a vendor and attendee at the festival. “And I want to come out and be a part of it. It means a whole lot to me to learn a whole lot about the background and the culture and black people and just to have a good time, just celebrate it all.”
Organizers put on the Juneteenth festival with food trucks, vendors, kids activities and live entertainment.
“We’ve understood our history within our community for a while, and been working for several years now, including this year, to create a space for community to gather, reflect and celebrate,” said organizer Sarah Williams. “To look at where we’ve been, but also give consideration to where we’re going and understanding that we still have to work towards complete liberation to do.”
For some, Juneteenth is a day to remember their ancestors who fought and sacrificed their lives to be free from slavery.
“And you have to understand where you’ve been to know where we’re going,” said Williams. “We have to acknowledge the ancestors who have made that sacrifice and carry their energy, wisdom, and knowledge forward as we continue that fight. And that is what today is about.”
For others, it’s about sharing the knowledge with future generations so that they can continue the fight.
“It’s telling the younger people that there’s a lot more to our heritage that we do not know,” said Vicky Tillman. “And for me to be able to pass on our product to them, lets them know that they can be anything they want to be. This is a country where your dreams can come true. But to know where you’re coming from to know where you’re going to. So the only way you will know that is to participate and to get out.”
Events also included a Juneteenth Celebration in Douglass Park and a Poets Literary Event at the Lyric Theatre.
