On a cloudy Saturday afternoon, sounds of celebration echoed throughout the Stars Complex in the Dunbar community.
Everyone there came to recognize and celebrate Juneteenth. A national holiday celebrated on June 19, it's recognized as the day slavery ended in the U.S.
It’s also called "Freedom Day" and has been celebrated since 1866. It wasn’t until June 17 of 2021 when President Joe Biden signed legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
However, Florida does not observe Juneteenth as a state holiday and it is not a paid holiday for state workers.
Fort Myers City Councilwoman Teresa Watkins Brown welcomed the crowd.
“It’s so good to so many of you out today. But I want us to remember, that someone suffered and died for this freedom. Something we should never forget," Watkins-Brown said.
Janice Cass, founder of the Black History Society, talked about the importance of the celebration.
“What we have to do is try to is try to maintain our identity with events like this that pertain to our culture and encourage our people to care about our history," she said. "We have to keep working towards that vision that is America, because we haven’t gotten there yet."
Children attending were entertained and had fun with games, rides, art and lots of treats.
For 5-year-old Martin and his 9-year-old sister, Liana, it was all about having a good time and learning more about Juneteenth.
“I did a lot of fun stuff,” Martin said.
“I did the bounce house and the tea cups. The strawberry ride and I did the boat tide. The one that went up and down.”
Fort Myers City Councilwoman Diana Giraldo shared about the importance of community coming together.
“I think that being able for us to celebrate freedom, celebrate humanity and celebrate the fabric of the people that we are here is one of the most beautiful things that we can do as a city," Giraldo said.
This Juneteenth was held at the STARS Complex for the first time, moving from its usual site at Roberto Clemente Park in Fort Myers, which is under renovation.
Amber Ware is the Senior Center Manager for STARS and said a unified community effort made it all come together.
“We've got a good team that made it happen. There was a collaboration of organizations from Dunbar, the Dunbar Festival Committee, Lee County Black History of course taking the lead, the STARS, 100 Black Men all of us collaborated together and we pulled off a very good event for everyone," she said.
And for 6-year-old Serena, and just about everyone who stayed, the end of the event was extra special. “I ain’t leaving until the fireworks,” she said.
Charles Barnes with the Lee County Black History Society says this Juneteenth was special in a number of ways.
“This Juneteenth was probably the most expensive one we’ve ever had. It took some funding from our community partners and our city government. I’m so glad that our city government participated in this process and helped us host this event for our community.”
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