The banner, ‘Our history, Our Culture, Our Village' was designed by Madeby Trav (Travis Landry)
Milwaukee Juneteenth street banner
Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas found out they had been freed after the end of the Civil War, and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. As Sandra Gaillard recently wrote in Riverwest Currents: “We are Africans with an American experience. We lived with a lot of names that did not belong to us—Slave, Nigga, Spook, Coon, Colored and Black. Most Americans still wonder: How did this ever happen?”
In 2021, Juneteenth was designated a federal holiday.
At noon on June 19, 2024, at the Milwaukee Juneteenth celebration, the temperature reached 91 degrees. A curtain of humidity slowed the festival goers numbering in the thousands. But walking among the crowds, I could feel the happy aura. Having taken over multiple blocks of ML King Drive, the event stretched from Center Street to the south and then straight north to three blocks above Burleigh. The celebration unfolded through 444 wall-to-wall vendor exhibits lining the perimeter, which acted as a crowded corridor for the celebrating throng. Inside the din, there was singing and dancing and laughing. Music was everywhere. The atmosphere felt powerful and yet peaceful.
I roamed the event and talked to many people. I sought an answer to a single question. Some answers came to me through emails or messages, some in person. All responders were African American.
What does Juneteenth mean to you?
Denita Ball Milwaukee County Sheriff
It means freedom, that our freedoms have not been forgotten. But I think we still have a long way to go. Juneteenth also means togetherness and always being a part of it.
Victor Barnett Founder of Running Rebels for Youth
Juneteenth Day is an opportunity for people to experience the Black culture—the food, the sounds, the clothing, the people, the art, the people and the love. For me, this day means freedom, possibility and unity.
Ajamou Butler Poet, Speaker, Author, Emotional Coach
Honestly, to me this holiday represents the fight that we are still in. I don't necessarily view it as a day to celebrate “freedom” amongst Afro Americans, but a time to reflect on how far we have come and how far we have to go.
David Crowley Milwaukee County Executive
Juneteenth is American history. Recognizing the past and understanding that slavery is a part of the fabric of America. African Americans have been resilient and have contributed triumphs to our entire society. There is more work to be done, but we are here to celebrate our freedom.
Franklin Cumberbatch Vice President, Bader Philanthropies
Juneteenth gives America the opportunity to remember a significant milestone in its history, the end of slavery. This is very important to remember because if we don't know where we've been, we cannot know where we are going. African Americans cannot forget the brutal impact of slavery. This celebration is a very important way to do that.
Jamel Curry Security Worker
I am out here celebrating our culture, our life and our freedom. I’ve been coming here since 1997.
Tracey Dent Activist and member of Crime Stoppers
It means unity and celebration, everybody sticking together. Fighting for equal rights. Being proud of our heritage.
Michael Emem President, Emem Group home builders
Juneteenth is a reminder of how far we’ve come as African Americans. It is a day of unity, the day we celebrate our freedom.
Stephanie Findley Board Vice Chair, Findley Foundation
To me, Juneteenth is a day of reflection, celebration, and renewal. It marks the end of legal slavery in the United States and is an occasion to honor our ancestors who endured slavery, celebrate the achievements of African Americans, and recommit to the ongoing struggle for civil rights and equality.
Kenneth Ginlack, Sr. CEO, Serenity Inns, Inc
Juneteenth symbolizes hope and freedom. It represents our collective progress and determination to advance as a community. It also signifies our ongoing struggle to break the chains of systemic racism and achieve true equality.
Eve M. Hall President, Greater Milwaukee Urban League
Juneteenth is a remembrance of the contributions African Americans made to this country, and also the day our lives were reconciled when we were set free in the 1860s to become regular human beings.
Kristen Hardy Prominent Milwaukee Corporate Attorney
Similar to many Black Midwesterners whose ancestors found their way to Detroit, Milwaukee, and Chicago during the Great Migration, my family history stretches to outermost corners of the deep south. I did not grow up celebrating the day that Black Americans in Galveston, Texas were informed of their freedom. But moving to Milwaukee, home of one of the longest running Juneteenth Day celebrations in the country, has provided me with an opportunity to gather, observe and reflect with others in the community. Juneteenth is about paying homage to our ancestors, celebrating our culture, and reflecting on ways to solve the issues we continue to face in the present-day.
Ken Harris Concordia University Professor and Radio Talk Show host.
Liberation. That by 1865, 100 percent of victims of slavery finally knew they had liberation. That the Constitution of the United States actually does apply to me and that I do live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Chantell Jewell Superintendent, Milwaukee County Reintegration Center
The holiday recognizes the end of slavery as we knew it. It represents a new type of freedom. The holiday ensures that our history doesn’t get lost. It marks a new era for us as Black people in America.
Cavalier Johnson Milwaukee Mayor
It represents the celebration of our history, but we have to work together to understand our history so that we are not doomed to repeat it. Juneteenth gets us together to remind us ofwhere we came from and aspire for more in the future.
Tory Lowe Award Winning Talk Show Host and Community Activist
Juneteenth is the real Independence Day for not only Black Americans but all Americans. If we all understand that if one group of Americans are not free, we all are not free. Today, Juneteenth represents liberation for all American citizens across the country.
Unique Magett 15-year-old Abundance Healthcare volunteer
I’m new to the generation, but I like the Black community getting together today and celebrating our rights and freedoms.
Angela Mallet Honeybee Sage Apothecary Cafe
To me, Juneteenth means the realization, acknowledgement and celebration of past due freedoms for all human beings. It marks the day in 1865 when the last of the enslaved African Americans received notice of the Emancipation Proclamation to claim their freedom. And today, three years after Juneteenth becoming a Federal Holiday, it marks the acknowledgment of those freedoms as something to be widely celebrated, not only by the descendants of enslaved people, but by all Americans, including the descendants of those Americans who once inhumanely enslaved others. Juneteenth Day to me, means a celebration of freedom, by all, for all.
Vaun Mayes Prominent Activist and Head of Community Task Force MKE
Juneteenth signals a much-needed opportunity to celebrate and enjoy an historical moment, but also to reflect on the current state of our culture since that time. Black encompasses a lot, and not everyone knows or understands us or our culture, even internally amongst ourselves. We need to foster, empower, encourage, and protect Juneteenth as a celebration and as an opportunity.
Jeffrey Norman Milwaukee Police Chief
Juneteenth marks the end of slavery, but I like to think of it more as a celebration of the beginning of freedom and equality in our nation. And while there is still much work to be done, Juneteenth is a time to celebrate the progress that has been made and a time to look forward to a better tomorrow. Better Together!
Sequanna Taylor Milwaukee County Supervisor, 5th District
Juneteenth is a recognized as the day of Freedom for Black People. What it means to me—Juneteenth allows us the space we deserve to love on each other as Black people. To celebrate our history, past, present, and future. And gives opportunity for my Glammies to witness Black excellence in various forms like foods and fashion. My wish is that my Glammies are not still fighting for the changes my grandparents and great grandparents had to.
Della Wells International Milwaukee Artist
Juneteenth is important to me because it symbolizes the importance of the various political, economic and social justice milestones that have been achieved for Black people. And I am not only thankful for those who fought for those milestones in the past, but also for those who are continuing the fight today. There is still much to be done.
Reggie Jackson Columnist, Speaker and Historian
I celebrate that day as a moment to reflect on a 246-year journey to make America end slavery and degradation of Black people. 200,000 Black men served in the Union army and navy, turning the tide of the war. Without their contributions, the Confederates would have won the Civil War. From the first celebration called Jubilee Day, it was a chance to honor freedom. And demand equality.
Bridget Robinson-Whitaker Executive Director, Safe & Sound
To me Juneteenth means love, hope, fight, strength, resolve, and spirit. This national holiday should serve as a teaching moment about the true history of slavery and its complicated end in America. Juneteenth is a day to inspire all generations to understand, honor, and protect our heritage.
Derrick “Baba” Rogers Compassion Ministries MKE, Xodus Academy
I recognize Juneteenth as a symbolic reminder of the need for Black African people to practice an authentic commitment to one another’s uplift, and to utilize our past to stir our ability to imagine a liberated future. Juneteenth celebrations should not merely be a reminder of our historical trauma. The day should also stimulate a spirit of ongoing collective resistance and revolutionary love.
Sandy Solo Activist, Dance Lover
It means freedom from oppression. I’m from the south, from Mississippi. Juneteenth is meaningful to me.
Shannon Ross Executive Director of The Community
Juneteenth to me means two different things.
It demonstrates that systems of oppression and enslavement can be dismantled. Slavery was seen as an indomitable force at one time in our country.
At the same time, it also means victories over systems of oppression and enslavement can be hollow and temporary if we do not understand the way systems are built, the way systems work, and the way systems self-preserve, and the need for systems. It took two years for a quarter million slaves to learn they had actually been free that whole time. Juneteenth is an opportunity for all of us to look in the mirror as we engage as citizens, advocates, and overall humans tied to the same fate.
Karin Tyler Office of Community Wellness and Safety Operations Manager
It means freedom to me. We are trying to show people freedom in a world without violence. Which includes love, peace and community. Out here today, we have our violence interrupters, and we have a secure teen zone.
Kyle Wallace Director of Content for 101.7 Black Talk Radio
It’s a celebration for when our country was finally free through the liberation of slaves in Galveston, Texas in 1865. America was finally living up to what it believed in. Juneteenth also means the education of American history. To me, Juneteenth is as important as July 4.
Jamal Willis Advocate for Black youth (whose T shirt reads, “Dear Young Black man, the streets don’t love you.”) He explained: “The streets will eat you up and spit you out.” To me, Juneteenth means liberation. Emancipation means that my ancestors were finally aware they were free.
Anonymous Name Withheld
Juneteenth allows us the space we deserve to love on each other as Black people.
Coda
When a Milwaukee leader suggested I answer my own question, I said, “But I am white.”
“Does not matter,” said the leader, “Juneteenth must mean something to you.”
I gave my answer, lame though it was. “I think Juneteenth symbolizes acceptance and harmony, and that can be applied to any race or racial divide.”
