Message from city of Tacoma’s Juneteenth commemoration: ‘Carry what you heard today’

In the city of Tacoma’s first “Juneteenth: Freedom Celebration” program Wednesday afternoon at Tollefson Plaza, attendees left with a task to carry, call, celebrate and commemorate the newly created federal holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas with news the Civil War was over and enslaved people were free.

“Carry what you heard today. Hearing the stories, the passion, the righteousness, the resolve, the charges that had been given,” the city’s chief equity officer Lisa Woods said.

Woods directed the audience to call someone: “Be an evangelist of this good news.”

She said to celebrate Juneteenth at events in the community over the weekend. Juneteenth is for everyone, Woods said.

Last, she said to commemorate by taking a moment in the day to think about what Juneteenth means.

“Think about and reflect for yourselves,” she said. “How are we going to make this personal? How am I going to allow this to change how I move forward in the world so that we can bring the hopes and dreams of our community that we desire?”

Last June, Juneteenth became a federal holiday. The City Council passed a resolution in December to make June 19 an official holiday for the city. Mayor Victoria Woodards said the council wanted to be thoughtful with the Juneteenth holiday and not to be seen as another day off or for businesses to have a Juneteenth sale.

“I hope as we think about Juneteenth, as we think about having Monday as the day off … that we use Juneteenth, that we take that day to really educate ourselves and recommit ourselves to making sure that every one of our brothers and sisters, no matter what the color of their skin is, that we recognize the hardships that they’ve been through and the hardships that systems have caused them,” Woodards said.

Woodards said she, like other African Americans, is still learning what Juneteenth means to her.

“I’m still learning as an African American woman who grew up free in the city of Tacoma, to totally understand the impact that this holiday has on my life,” she said.

Tacoma Fire Chief Tory Green said he didn’t learn about Juneteenth until 2007.

“In that moment, I remember asking myself, ‘How is it possible that a 37-year-old Black man did not know what Juneteenth was?’” he said.

Green said as the community commemorates Juneteenth with good food or dancing in the streets, he encourages everyone to spend time making Juneteenth “a day that you commit to learning something new, about who we are, where we’ve been and how we came to be together in this place.”

Charelle Walls, a Tacoma Public Utilities equity champion, said June 19 becoming an official holiday solidifies and acknowledges Black labor, while serving as a brighter chapter in the Black community. Walls compared the treatment of Black people in the United States to Monopoly. For 450 rounds, or 450 years, Black people did not get to play at all or played on the behalf of their opponent making money and earning wealth for them. After the 450 rounds, Black people are then told to catch up, she said.

“How? When there was a 450 year head start?” Walls asked.

Walls said she has hope for a brighter future in America because of the city’s Equity 101 training and the resolution City Council passed to become an anti-racist organization.

Tacoma Police Department chief of staff Curtis Hairston said Tacoma has a willingness to change and has made progress on racism and racial reconciliation.

“Look around: We have a beautiful African American woman as my mayor,” he said. “Our chief of police is a Black man. Our fire chief is a Black man. In case you didn’t notice, your first ever chief of staff for the police department is a Black man. I counted all progress. I counted all willingness to change.”

Across the city this weekend, Juneteenth celebrations will take place:

▪ Second annual Still We Rise Juneteenth Celebration: Saturday, noon to 5 p.m., at Wright Park, 501 S. I St. The event is free.

▪ Royal Masquerade Juneteenth Gala: Saturday, 6:15 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave. Admission is $45.

▪ Juneteenth Celebration at Ray Gibson’s Cabelleros Club: Saturday, 8 p.m. to midnight, at 1516 S. 28th St.

▪ Juneteenth Family Storytime: Saturday, 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., online at tacomalibrary.org.

▪ Mazigazi Band Juneteenth Celebration: Sunday, at Elks Temple, 565 Broadway, Spanish Ballroom. Tickets are $7 in advance and $10 at the door.

▪ Black Business Market: Sunday, noon to 8 p.m., at Waterfront Market at Ruston, 5101 Ruston Way, Ruston.

The city’s administrative office will be closed June 20 in observance of Juneteenth.

Tollefson Plaza will be home to a Black Lives Matter mural painted by artist Dionne Bonner and other muralists.