Five years after Juneteenth became a federal holiday, dozens gathered at the County Courtyard on Wednesday morning for Redwood City’s second Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony, where speakers called for deeper investment in Black communities across San Mateo County.
Central to many of the speeches by city officials and other local figures was how to better support Black residents of San Mateo County, from addressing displacement to improving access to health, education and economic opportunity.
City Council member and former Menlo Park Mayor Cecilia Taylor noted that Menlo Park has the second-largest Black population in the county. Specifically, Taylor noted that Black residents of Belle Haven, a Menlo Park neighborhood, once made up 97% of the community but now hover at about 6%…