CINCINNATI — Lydia Morgan knows the story of Juneteenth isn’t an easy one to tell. But that’s a major reason she feels talking about it is so important.
What You Need To Know
- The 35th annual Juneteenth Festival in Cincinnati will take place this weekend at Eden Park
- Juneteenth recognizes the liberation of enslaved people in Texas more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation
- While Juneteenth is a day of celebration, it’s also a day of reflecting on the struggles African-Americans had to make during slavery and since gaining their freedom.
- Last year, Juneteenth became federal holiday
Juneteenth, short for “June 19”, marks the day in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger landed at Galveston, Texas with news the Civil War had ended and the enslaved people were now free.
It happened more than two-and-a-half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
While Juneteenth may have only become a federal holiday last year, African-Americans and Black communities have commemorated “Emancipation Day” for well over a century.
Lydia Morgan, chair of Juneteenth Cincinnati. (Casey Weldon/Spectrum News 1)
A retired educator, Lydia Morgan helped found Juneteenth Cincinnati Inc., which operates the city’s oldest Juneteenth celebration. Now in its 35th year, the event returns to Eden Park this weekend for celebration, music, bonding and, yes, storytelling.
“The greatest thing I want (people) to understand, especially the little ones and the teenagers, is that those enslaved people suffered a lot, but they persevered,” Morgan said. “Had they not persevered, we wouldn’t be here today.”
Over the years, the event has grown from a relatively small festival at Daniel Drake Park on Red Bank Road to a multiple-day event in Eden Park near downtown.
On Saturday, there were two stages of music, food, children’s activities and art from noon to 9 p.m. A Father’s Day concert will take place from 2 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The festivities go citywide Monday will a parade through downtown from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dozens of drill teams, step teams and local dignitaries will head east on West Court Street and right on Plum Street before making their way to Richmond Street.
Morgan feels conflicted about how to recognize Juneteenth. People should celebrate the end of slavery as a holiday, she said, but noted the importance of reflecting on what the day actually signifies. Not only the liberation of a people, but also the struggles those people faced during and after enslavement as well as the ongoing struggles for many of their ancestors in the Black community.
Events on Saturday will include history lessons and historical reenactments. The Voices of Freedom project aims to showcase the myriad emotions surrounding Juneteenth.
Presented in collaboration with the Kennedy Heights Arts Center, the program features visual art, spoken word, dance and music to showcase the emotions the newly freed people likely felt.
Art will be on display throughout the festival grounds and spoken word performances will take place at the Mirror Lake stage.
“Many people died because of slavery, but it’s important to remember all those who fought hard to survive,” Morgan said. “It took a lot of inner strength to live through something like that, but it also took strength to move on from it.”
“There are people who’ve grown up feeling embarrassed about slavery, but we have nothing to be embarrassed about. We should be proud of the strength of our ancestors,” she added. “That’s very important to remember, and very important to share with our children.”
The events in Eden Park aren’t the only Juneteenth celebrations taking place in southwest Ohio this weekend.
Both Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati raised a Juneteenth flag over their respective government buildings, the Hamilton County Courthouse and City Hall. It’s a tradition that’s taken place for the past few years.
In 2020, the Hamilton County Commissioners voted to make Juneteenth a paid holiday for all county workers. That happened a year before the federal government made it a holiday.
Earlier this week, Cincinnati City Council followed suit and voted to make it a holiday in Cincinnati as well.
“Juneteenth honors one of the most important moments in American history, and official recognition of it is long overdue for Cincinnati,” said Council member Victoria Parks. She views the long weekend as a way for city staff to “celebrate and educate” themselves about the greater meaning behind the holiday.
The city’s flag-raising ceremony on Friday featured dancers and musical performances, as well as several speakers from organizations such the NAACP and The Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio.
Speakers included elected officials and community activists such as Iris Roley, who played a key role in the formation of Cincinnati’s historic Collaborative Agreement.
A graphic created by the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center for their weekend of Juneteenth events. (Photo courtesy of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center)
Another speaker was Woodrow Keown, Jr., president and COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in downtown Cincinnati.
The Freedom Center has a weekend full of free events, including an evening of spoken word performances and poetry from 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday. Guests will receive two free drink tickets. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, there will be art projects, dramatic readings, a performance by Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s Mark Lomax Quartet and more.
For the third consecutive year, the Freedom Center took part in BLKFREEDOM.org, which brought together 11 museums from across the country to explore the U.S. Constitution. The museums collaborated on a video titled “We the People.”
The video will debut at the Freedom Center during the weekend.
“Juneteenth has been recognized as a day of affirmation that Black people are, and of right ought to be, free,” Keown, Jr. said. “It’s both a day of celebration and a reminder of what millions endured in this country to realize the promises made in the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, we use it as a moment to rededicate ourselves to finishing the work of eradicating the systemic unfreedoms that linger from chattel slavery.”
Not all the Juneteenth celebrations are taking place downtown, though. In fact, there’s a new one this year in Golf Manor, a small village in Hamilton County surrounded by Cincinnati’s Pleasant Ridge and Roselawn neighborhoods.
It’s the brainchild of Maxine Lewis Robinson, 54. She mentioned the idea in a neighborhood group on social media and the idea took off.
With virtually no money and little time, a group of strangers turned “cousins” coordinated, what is now, Golf Manor’s inaugural Juneteenth celebration, said Melody N. Mayle, one of the partners on the project.
The community’s inaugural Juneteenth celebration took place Friday from 4 to 9 p.m. at Volunteer Park (6441 Wiehe Rd). Plans called for food, beverages for purchase, music and activities for children. Representatives from several health organizations were on hand to discuss things like sexual and mental health.
Local small businesses will also be present to sell things like T-shirts and jewelry, and others will be there to promote their services, ranging from massage therapy to wealth management.
The goal, Mayle said, is to connect our local community, promote our goods and services, and make our neighbors aware of various organizations here to serve them.
“We want to celebrate freedom while empowering the people and improving Black economics,” she added. “The event will celebrate the beauty of being Black and recognize the unique challenges faced by Black people in America.”
