LAKELAND, Fla. — “It’s important to understand it was not even 200 years ago,” said Kessanda Abel with the Tampa Museum of Art.
That slaves were freed in the United States.
“It’s kind of a misnomer that the emancipation proclamation freed all slaves. Well, it didn’t,” said Terry Coney, President of the NAACP Lakeland Branch.
The Emancipation Proclamation initially freed slaves only in rebel states, and word took a while to spread.
Juneteenth is a day to commemorate June 19, 1865, the last reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas—about two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
It’s a significant date in history as part of a broader journey to end slavery throughout the nation. That’s why recognition of the holiday has been so important to the Black community.
“Everything that our ancestors have gone through to get us to this moment. That’s the biggest thing,” said Marchina Smith, vice president of Lakeland’s Juneteenth Freedom Festival.
President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth Federal Holiday into law in 2021 after it was passed by Congress.
“This is a day of profound, in my view, profound weight and profound power,” said Biden that day.
Now, cities and states around the country have also started to acknowledge it, including Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater.
However, Lakeland is only just officially recognizing Juneteenth as a city-wide holiday for the first time this year after some back and forth with city commissioners.
“Each county, each city, every time it’s recognized as a paid holiday, it’s one step closer to the goals that our ancestors wanted as well, and that's freedom of us,” said Smith.
While today will be a day off for some, hopefully, it will be a time of learning, too.
“I hope that they reflect on not just having the day off to go and grill but reflect on the purpose and the meaning behind Juneteenth,” said Smith.
Although getting Juneteenth acknowledged by the City of Lakeland this year was a win, many people who’ve been fighting for this said it’s just the beginning.
They want to see Juneteenth recognition across cities in Florida all the way up to the state level.
“I still feel like we have a long way to go. And the biggest thing is, we don’t want to be that generation that just stops it here,” said Smith.
Lakeland’s Juneteenth Freedom Festival will be held on June 29 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Simpson Park.
“We have over 50 vendors. We’re going to have face painting, bounce houses, water slides for the kids as well,” said Smith.
