A fitness in the park day and church revival Sunday morning continued four days of celebrating Juneteenth—two of more than a dozen events held citywide to celebrate the anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved people.
The festivities got underway Thursday night with the Levitt AMP Concert on the Y-block.
At Comer Cox Park on Sunday, ward five Alderwoman Lakeisha Purchase reflected on what it all means.
“It has been completely amazing and breathtaking, because this has been the second year that they did it at the Illinois Museum downtown for the Black Art exhibition, and I was impressed with the layout. It’s expanding. It’s growing more and more, and the weather was perfect. And the messages that were provided to us about what Juneteenth means to us—it’s not just about a day of celebrating. You notice my shirt says ‘Free-ish’ because as a young, African-American woman, even when I raise my voice or I shed a tear, people think I’m angry or mad so I’m still only free-ish, I’m not completely free.”
As a federal and state holiday, Juneteenth will be observed on Monday, June 20th this year. The city of Springfield, which officially recognized the holiday before either the state or federal government, only does so if the actual holiday, June 19th, falls on a Monday through Friday.