We know how valuable it is, and how rare it is, sadly, that we get to come together and celebrate our culture in this way.” We know what it’s like to be Black in America. To see the joy and dignity and celebration and unification of our community is really what we’re in it for. “There’s no reason (we can’t have) a Long Beach event celebrating Black culture and Black music, which is foundational to American culture. “That really was my vision to make Juneteenth one of the marquee events in our city,” Kemp said. He hoped it could become one of the city’s signature events, akin to Long Beach’s annual LGBTQ+ Pride Parade or even the Grand Prix. Though there had been other, smaller-scale Juneteenth events in the city over the years - including the first-ever Juneteenth put on by Connie Oden, a former Parks, Marine, and Recreation Department employee - Kemp wanted to create a big celebration to honor African American history and culture. “I checked in with (Malveaux) to get permission from my elders because that’s how I was raised,” Kemp said. and Long Beach Central Area Association president John Malveaux - about his idea for a Juneteenth community celebration in Long Beach. Kemp returned home around 2018, and began approaching respected members of the Black community - including Antioch Church’s Pastor Wayne Chaney, Jr. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, with the signing of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act by President Joe Biden - and has since become a day to celebrate freedom, hope, and African American pride.Ī few years before, Long Beach resident Carl Kemp - who serves as Long Beach City College’s executive director of public affairs and marketing - began ruminating on the idea of producing a large-scale Juneteenth event for the community. It marks the formal end of slavery after the Civil War.īlack Americans have celebrated Juneteenth for generations, but it became more widely recognized after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020, which sparked a nationwide racial reckoning. June 19, 1865, or Juneteenth, commemorates the date when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas - more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The free, 3rd annual Juneteenth Celebration kicks off on Saturday, June 17 at Rainbow Lagoon Park, 400 E. Juneteenth is just around the corner - and a recently-established, popular event is set to return to downtown Long Beach this weekend to commemorate the holiday celebrating Black culture and history.
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