Richmond Heights made the most of the good weather during its Juneteenth celebration on June 13. After last year’s event was rained out, extra care was made to include new activities, including line dancing, school marching bands, a bubble tub, drumming circle and HBCU raffles.
Nicole Christian, the special programs coordinator for the city, said because the event has been celebrated unofficially for so long, only becoming a federal holiday in 2021, they were looking toward the community on how to shape the event.
“In years prior we followed a pretty strong mold and this year the approach was different stuff,” Christian said. “We never had trivia, line dancing, or any of these vendors. Before it was just kind of a family fun type of thing but now I would say it’s sticking stronger to the Juneteenth specific message…”
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, which was the date enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, received the news that they were free — a full two years after Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and a year and half after the Senate passed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery…