McKenzie Park was a busy place on Saturday despite the wind and cooler temperatures as a diverse crowd gathered for the annual Juneteenth celebration.
Hermiston City Councilor Jackie Linton said it was important to her to participate in Saturday’s event, sponsored by the Hermiston Cultural Awareness Coalition.
“Freedom for us is the Fourth of July,” she said. “But we were still slaves at the time. But Juneteenth is actually our Freedom Day. We still have work to do. Like Martin Luther King said, none of us are free unless all of us are free.”
Linton said she was encouraged by the diversity of the crowd and said making Juneteenth a national holiday is “one of the most important things to happen to our country.”
The origins of Juneteenth date back to June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas with the announcement that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth” by the newly-freed people in Texas.
Virginia Garcia said she was impressed by the rising awareness of the holiday by the general population, may of whom, like Garcia herself, were not even aware of Juneteenth until a few years ago.
“It’s great that our community is recognizing it and celebrating the holiday,” she said. “It’s awesome.”
Dave Gracia, president of the Hermiston Cultural Awareness Coalition, said many people are just beginning to learn about the holiday and its historical significance. He said his group is simply trying to further their education.
“As our name implies, we are trying to bring cultural awareness to the community,” Gracia said. “Even though we don’t have a large African American community, it’s important to be able to educate the community.”
Not everyone at Saturday’s celebration was from the area.
Aaron Gifford and Jessica Beauchemin from Bend were passing through Eastern Oregon when they heard about the Hermiston event.
“We came through Pendleton and took in the Pride event and then came her for Juneteenth,” said Beauchemin. “It’s exciting to be celebrating this in Eastern Oregon.”
Hermiston’s Jada Rome said more education is needed about Juneteenth in particular and African American history in general.
“African American history and a lot of history of people of color has been disregarded,” she said. “This day is important to me and important for all of us to recognize it and accept it. It’s amazing that Hermiston is celebrating this. We need this everywhere. When we can be together it’s a beautiful thing.”
