The Black Liberation Movement of Central Ohio plans to bring the Columbus community together this month as they host an in-person Juneteenth Jubilee in Goodale park on June 19. Credit: Courtesy of Davante Goins
The Senate passed a resolution Tuesday to establish Juneteenth as a federal holiday, and the Black community in Columbus is sparing no expense for the celebration.
The Black Liberation Movement of Central Ohio will bring members of the Columbus community together June 19 during its in-person Juneteenth Jubilee in Goodale Park. The festival will feature over 40 vendors, food, live entertainment and a wellness area offering health screenings and COVID-19 vaccines, Kiara Yakita, president of the BLMCO, said.
Juneteenth is a Black cultural holiday in the United States commemorating the day slaves were freed. The holiday was first celebrated in Galveston, Texas, after federal troops led by General Granger arrived in the spring of 1865 to ensure that all remaining enslaved people were freed — just over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
“It’s a Black culture holiday for us,” Yakita said. “It’s our chance to reflect on our ancestors — the sacrifices they made, the strength that they had and potentially where we came from.”
Ohio is one of 47 states that has observed the holiday as “Juneteenth National Freedom Day” since 2009. However, this is the first year Juneteenth will be held as a state-paid holiday.
Davante Goins, vice president of the BLMCO and founder and managing editor of The Unbossed Network, Columbus’s only Black-owned and Black-operated multi-media network, said it feels like the city of Columbus is taking the opportunity to recognize the importance of its Black community, especially after the rise of Black Lives Matter protests over the last year.
“The impact of this event is going to be on creating a space for not just Black Columbus, but Columbus to come together in general and to be able to share a space with and to learn about other cultures,” Goins said. “We’re going to get bigger and better each and every year as we progress, and we’re happy to be able to be the organization that’s bringing back Juneteenth.”
Yakita said she founded the BLMCO as a non-profit, LGBTQ-inclusive organization in January after engaging in frontline activism during protests surrounding the death of George Floyd last summer.
“We want to give people something to be excited about and look forward to,” Yakita said. “But for us, it’s much more than just a celebration. Our goal and our theme is to celebrate, liberate and educate.”
Goins said he remembers attending big Juneteenth festivals in Franklin Park while growing up in Columbus, but he said this will be the first big celebration and festival since the pandemic began.
“We wanted to make sure to put in the work to bring it back because it does mean a lot to the community,” Yakita said. “We’ve spent our whole lives celebrating holidays that weren’t made with us in mind — holidays that were made to exclude us — and now we have our own holiday on the calendar that we can relish in.”
Yakita and Goins said the Juneteenth Jubilee will have a full lineup of performances from local singers, dancers, rappers and poets, such as KaTanya Ingram and DanceVersity. There will also be a free dance fitness class held by Angela Green called “Dance it Out with Angela” before the festival at noon and a free yoga class held by Zen Yoga Columbus at 1 p.m.
Goins said the group is partnering with over 40 artists and vendors who sell artwork, jewelry and crafts, in addition to groups devoted to activism, such as Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children and Moms Demand Action.
Equitas Health, Ohio Health and CareSource will be present for a “Health is Wealth” area that will provide free HIV, STD and STI testing, COVID-19 testing and vaccines, sleep apnea testing and blood pressure screenings, Yakita and Goins said.
“We are trying to increase wellness by trying to provide resources to test for some of these disparities that you see in high concentrations in the Black community,” Yakita said. “We don’t just want to hang out and eat food, we also want to take care of the community.”
Juneteenth Jubilee will be held June 19 from 1-6 p.m. in Goodale Park. Admission is free and Yakita said people from all walks of life are invited to celebrate the holiday. More information about the event, fitness classes and wellness resources is posted on the BLMCO’s Facebook page.
