Juneteenth Celebrations

Communities across the country are celebrating Juneteenth today.

It's a holiday that recognizes the end of slavery in the U.S.

Communities across the country are celebrating juneteenth today.

It's a holiday that recognizes the end of slavery in the u.s. our stephanie poole joins the celebration and joins us live.

Joey, community members are taking part of juneteenth here in southside columbus.

éé there are jumpers, food, etc .éé i spoke with a few community members who planned the first event 24 years ago.

éé it's a time to remember, reflect, and rejoice.

The juneteenth holiday ties family..friends..and history together.

Leroy brooks and a small committee of volunteers organized the very first juneteenth celebration in columbus.

That was in 1996.

" it was a small affair.

We had a flat bed truck that the entertainers performed on and we had a few vendors."

After years of music, food, and commemorating the past, brooks says this has been a stepping stone to further connect the african american community.

" it's grown tremendously since then in terms of participation.

What we like to pride ourselves in is the fact that we get huge crowds, people from all over the south east, atlanta,tennessee, alabama."

Butt sots " we were like let's try it and we did that first year,and it just took off and everybody loves juneteenth.

It's really a time of family and friends and you get to see so many people coming home strictly for the juneteenth celebration."

Committee member, cindy lawrence says with multiple headlines in the media during this time, she's hopeful more people will educate themselves on the holiday and choose to participate.

" you're hearing and seeing a-lot about it right now with the president making mention of juneteenth, everyone is trying to understand what juneteenth is about.i'd love to see where different races, different cultures all come in.

We all have different booths and we all talk about and what we do and i think it'll be real exciting for people to learn each other."

And next year, they can reflect together.

" we always have to encourage other ethnic groups to try to understand the dynamics of the african american experience.

I think if they understand the dynamics of what people have gone through some of them would be a-lot more sensitive."

Brooks says there will a juneteenth parade tomorrow .

Line up starts at 12:30 and the parade 1pm.

The route will begin on main street and end on 20th street.

éé for now, reporting live in columbus, stephanie poole, wcbi news.

éé stinger