The San Fernando Valley will kick off its “Multicultural Celebration of Freedom,” honoring Juneteenth on Saturday, June 18, with a 2.5-mile “Freedom Walk” in Pacoima in honor of Opal Lee, the Texas activist and former educator who held a similar walk each year for decades to advocate for a federal holiday marking the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans.
The walk begins at 8 a.m. at the Alicia Broadous-Duncan Multipurpose Senior Center, located at 11300 Glenoaks Blvd. in Pacoima, and will also end there.
Other scheduled events on Saturday include the Zawadi Collective’s Fifth Annual Juneteenth Community Celebration, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., in Woodley Park, in Van Nuys. Activities will include games, raffles, speakers, an essay scholarship program, and the Kidpreneur Korner.
Also on Saturday will be a business roundtable table discussion, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., at California State University Northridge. Scheduled participants include Angela Gibson Shaw, president of the Greater Los Angeles Chamber of African American Chamber of Commerce and chief executive officer of the public relations consulting firm AG & Associates; Roberto Barragan, executive director of the California Community Economic Development Association; Madeline and Mariah Williams, founders and owners of Maddy Bear Bakes; and Sonya Kay Blake, president and chief executive officer of the Valley Economic Alliance.
On Monday, June 20, an entertainment festival will take place at the senior center in Pacoima from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Lee is scheduled to attend.
Lee is known as “the ‘grandmother of Juneteenth,” and stated on many occasions, “this should be a time to educate and reflect on the true meaning of freedom,” as well as “the moral responsibility we as a nation have to ensure freedom, justice and equality for all,” said Rev. Zedar Broadous, executive minister for the Adonai Covenant International Ministries in Pacoima, member of the board of directors of the Valley Economic Alliance and organizer of the Valley celebration.
“Juneteenth,” or June 19, is considered the oldest known celebration of the end of legalized slavery in the USA. On that day in 1865, Union soldiers began informing the remaining 250,000 enslaved African Americans in Galveston, TX, that the Civil War was over, and they were free. They were the last slaves to gain their freedom — and some slaveholders withheld the information from them until after the fall harvest.
Juneteenth — also known as African American Freedom Day or Emancipation Day — was signed into law as a federal holiday by President Joe Biden in 2021. This year, federal offices, as well as many state and local ones, banks and other businesses and the US Postal Service will be closed on Monday, June 20.
“The great abolitionist Frederick Douglass spoke of July 4 as the benchmark of American independence, while the enslaved people in our nation, even today, live under the shadow of discrimination and inequality. And yet, we can look back over time and see the multitudes of Americans, of diverse backgrounds, who have fought for freedom, justice and equality for all,” Broadous said.
“Juneteenth, for us today, represents a time for the commemoration of those past advocates of freedom, the celebration of our progress toward that perfect union, and the uniting of our diverse communities in the continuation of the work to ensure true freedom for all.”
Those interested in registering for the Freedom Walk can visit http://raceroster.com/events/2022/59208/2022-opals-walk-for-freedom/register?team=400552.
For more information about the Juneteenth Celebration, visit https://covenantinternational.net.