Juneteenth celebration takes on new meaning in East St. Louis
A crowd of about 30 people gathered at East St. Louis City Hall on Friday afternoon to commemorate Juneteenth.
“Happy Feelings,” a popular Frankie Beverly & Maze song, played in the background, which set the tone for the duration of the event as Black residents took pride in celebrating the holiday.
The space was filled with American flags and people wearing Black pride T-shirts, a powerful representation of the congruity of Black lives and American history amid recent protests.
“One thing we need to know about the Juneteenth flag is that it still had red, white and blue in it because of our rich history and contributions to this country, which should be remembered as we take time to reflect on the 155 years since slaves were emancipated,” Stephanie Taylor, an organizer of the event, said as the Juneteenth flag was raised in front of City Hall.
Taylor, along with her husband Terrance Taylor, leads Community Development Sustainable Solutions, a nonprofit in East St. Louis that’s focused on establishing programs to help better the community. The organization has helped raise awareness for Juneteenth in East St. Louis for the past five years. Juneteenth is an annual holiday that recognizes the end of slavery in the United States.
Stephanie Taylor said this year’s celebration is especially important considering the recent killings of Black people by police officers.
“This celebration is also a reminder of the work that we have to do because our lives should matter in this country,” said Taylor, an East St. Louis resident.
The event started with a march from the intersection of 89th Street and State Street to City Hall, where community leaders and government officials gave remarks about the importance of the holiday. Among them was Jimmy Williams, owner of McDonald’s franchises in the metro-east, including one on 25th and State streets in East St. Louis.
Williams’ father, James Williams, was first Black mayor of East St. Louis. He said being a Black business owner and the legacy of his family in East St. Louis make him proud to celebrate the holiday.
“The proudest moment of my life is when I bought that restaurant on 25th and State Street,” Williams said. “Yes, Juneteenth celebrates the end of U.S. slavery, but there’s another meaning to Juneteenth.
“It symbolizes the start of a long walk toward equal justice. The emancipated slaves had miles to walk on the road toward equality. As Americans, we’re still on that journey. My father walked along that journey. He understood the demands of protesters who are on our streets today.”
Melody Mcclellan, who often gives wellness programs in East St. Louis, was part of the march and attended the gathering at City Hall. She said current protests have offered an added significance to celebrating Juneteenth.
“With the way everything that’s going on in this world right now that we’re living in now, it’s just nice that we are acknowledging this as a holiday now,” Mcclellan, of O’Fallon, said. “People are embracing and understanding the struggle and also, we just have to have more action behind it. It’s not just about hearing about the day; it’s about the peace that we need and the justice that we need.”
Since the death of George Floyd, who died while in police custody in Minneapolis, calls urging the recognition of Juneteenth as a national holiday have increased. The holiday is named after the day, June 19, in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Texas to emancipate the last remaining slaves. Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a proclamation honoring the holiday in Illinois.
“This Juneteenth comes as hundreds of thousands of protesters across the nation and across Illinois, from Rockford to East St. Louis to Chicago to Springfield to Champaign to Anna and dozens of towns in between, have taken to the streets to call for justice and change – and through protest and policy, we’re going to make that change,” Pritzker said in a video.
Mcclellan was happy to a part of the East St. Louis event, considering she’d never commemorated Juneteenth before.
“As a result of this movement, it has impacted me in a way which I’ve become more educated about Juneteenth,” Mcclellan said. “I’ve actually looked up to see where it started, so I consider myself to be a lot more educated [about it] now.”
Jashira Bolden, the current Miss Black International Ambassador and East St. Louis native, ended the celebration by promoting her own Juneteenth event, a solidarity march and voter registration drive in East St. Louis. Bolden hopes that people will keep up the momentum in celebrating the holiday.
“I’ve been celebrating Juneteenth since I can remember, but, for the longest, I couldn’t understand exactly what it meant, but once I got older I understood it a bit more,” Bolden, 21, said. “However, in this current time, it’s important to demand change, but it’s also important to continue to celebrate the holiday and not just while it’s trending.”
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 5:34 PM.
