Juneteenth celebration set for Friday, Saturday

Wake Forest will celebrate freedom for all people during a Juneteenth Celebration planned this Friday and Saturday.

The Northeast Community Coalition is presenting the celebration in conjunction with the town of Wake Forest.

“The observance of Juneteenth is important so that we all will be reminded from generation to generation that no one is free unless everyone is free,” said Tilda Caudle, director of the Northeast Community Coalition.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates the arrival of Union troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, to free 250,000 people still held in bondage, according to a presidential proclamation of the Juneteenth holiday. The historic event occurred more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people.

The Northeast Community Coalition has spearheaded a Juneteenth observance in Wake Forest for about eight years.

This year’s kickoff will be 4-6:30 p.m. Friday, June 14, at Taylor Street Park, located adjacent to the Alston-Massenburg Center at the corner of North Taylor and East Juniper streets. Caudle said the splash pad will be open, various games will be available for youth and adults and the occasion will center around fun activities for all ages.

A Juneteenth parade will take place Saturday morning.

Parade lineup is set for 9 a.m. at Hope House, 334 N. Allen Road. The parade starts at 10 a.m.

Caudle said people are invited to walk in the parade. “Just be at the lineup at 9 o’clock,” she said.

The parade will proceed from the park to the DuBois Center at 518 N. Franklin St.

Caudle noted that Saturday’s Juneteenth activities will be on the back side of the DuBois Center property, which is located along East Perry Street. Signs will direct people to the festivities, she said.

Activities will include a presentation on the history of the DuBois School and DuBois Center, followed by festivities beginning at 11:15 a.m.

Caudle said there will be vendors, performers, free food and various other activities.

“It’s going to be good,” she said.

And at the center of it all will be remembering the importance of freedom.

“We remind the generations to come of the reason for the Juneteenth celebration,” Caudle said.

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