Juneteenth Festival at Las Vegas’ Lorenzi Park celebrates independence from slavery
Organizers of the 16th annual Las Vegas Juneteenth Festival said the celebration is needed more than ever, given the tragic nightclub massacre of 49 people in Orlando, Florida.
“I think culture and acceptance in this day and time is so important,” Diane Pollard, founder of the Rainbow Dreams Foundation, which organizes the yearly festival.
“People need to meet people right where they’re at, right then and there, and accept them for who they are,” she said Sunday during the festival, held Sunday at Lorenzi Park’s Sammy Davis Jr. Festival Plaza.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery and dates back to June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers led by Maj. Gordon Granger, landed in Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended and that all the slaves were now free.
That day, however, came 2½ years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which became official Jan. 1, 1863.
Tenisha Martin, 39, of Las Vegas said Juneteenth holds a special significance for her, and others in her culture.
“It’s a day since then that communities have gotten together to try to keep historically, the celebration alive, to celebrate our independence,” Martin said. “A lot of people who celebrate Juneteenth don’t necessarily celebrate the Fourth of July because in 1776, we weren’t free yet. So this is a celebration of our independence from slavery.”
Despite the high temperatures, people came to the festival to enjoy a variety of food, including barbecue and slushies, and hear music from Serpentine Fire, Lamar Lewarren, In-A-Fect and Next Movement.
Chizel Perry-Gray received a $1,000 scholarship from the Rainbow Dreams Educational Foundation to attend Colorado State University.
“I definitely think it’s important to celebrate the abolishment of slavery,” Perry-Gray said at the event. “It’s something we did overcome — it was an obstacle for us. Receiving this scholarship proves how much I can do, and how that didn’t set us back. We are still striving.”
Contact Natalie Bruzda at nbruzda@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3897. Find @NatalieBruzda on Twitter.
