Santa Cruz celebrates Juneteenth – Santa Cruz Sentinel

Santa Cruz City Council member Sonja Brunner, left, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings, right, and Chris Davis embrace in joy and solidarity on Saturday at the Juneteenth Celebration at Laurel Park in Santa Cruz. The celebration began with a music-filled parade from City Hall to London Nelson Community Center and then continued with dance, poetry, and musical performances along with soul food offerings, arts and crafts, a basketball skills contest, and a sack race. Juneteenth marks the day the last group of enslaved African Americans learned that they were free on June 19, 1866. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, there was difficulty getting it implemented in places that were still under Confederate control. When some 200 Union troops came to Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the 250,000 enslaved blacks were liberated by executive decree. It was a jubilee. Locally, Juneteenth continues with Black Surf Club Santa Cruz’s Liberation Paddle Out on Sunday, March Toward Love and Courage on Monday, and the repainting and repair of the Black Lives Mural on Center Street next Saturday. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)

Santa Cruz City Council member Sonja Brunner, left, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings, right, and Chris Davis embrace in joy and solidarity on Saturday at the Juneteenth Celebration at Laurel Park in Santa Cruz. The celebration began with a music-filled parade from City Hall to the London Nelson Community Center and then continued with dance, poetry, and musical performances along with soul food offerings, arts and crafts, a basketball skills contest, and a sack race. Juneteenth marks the day the last group of enslaved African Americans learned that they were free on June 19, 1866. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, there was difficulty getting it implemented in places that were still under Confederate control. When some 200 Union troops came to Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the 250,000 enslaved blacks were liberated by executive decree. It was a jubilee. Locally, Juneteenth continues with Black Surf Club Santa Cruz’s Liberation Paddle Out on Sunday, March Toward Love and Courage on Monday, and the repainting and repair of the Black Lives Mural on Center Street next Saturday. (Shmuel Thaler – Santa Cruz Sentinel)