Many Juneteenth celebrations are taking place now and through the weekend…but one local town is marking a special connection with the holiday.
Eatonville, Florida became the first planned Black incorporated municipality 22 years after the events of June 19th, 1865. That was the day Texas learned its enslaved people were free. It was the last state to be notified – a full two-and-a-half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Candace Finley is Executive Director of the education organization eSTEAMed Learning Inc., which is partnering with the Town of Eatonville to produce this year’s event. She said Eatonville’s three-day Juneteenth celebration is called 1887 Juneteenth, celebrating the year of the town’s official formation along with the events of June 19th, 1865, and what they stand for, together.
On that June day in 1865, the message had finally made its way to enslaved people in every Confederate state, “’You are free,’” Finley said. Linking that to Eatonville, she added, “Look at the result of what that freedom gave you – in the end, it built this town that still stands here today. One hundred plus years.”
The celebration kicks off the evening of Juneteenth at St Lawrence AME Church. Finley said it will feature musical performances, sketches, local lawmakers, and a guest speaker from nearby Royal, Florida, which also figures prominently in Black American history of the late 1800s.
The following two days of the event will take over Hungerford Field park area, with Friday being a kid-focused day called a “youth jam” and Saturday holding the main event, filled with art, vendors, live music, games, food, and vendors with Black-owned businesses.
“We also collaborated with the Metro-Orlando National Pan-Hellenic Council,” said Finley, referencing the collective body for the local chapters of the Divine Nine fraternities and sororities, “and they will be bringing their Greek Weekend Picnic out to the Juneteenth fest.”
And after the events of this 1187 Juneteenth weekend, Finley said she hopes the lessons and experiences linger. “We want you to leave with a sense of joy, a sense of presence, and a sense of responsibility to love Eatonville as much as we love Eatonville,” she said.
Noting that the ‘joy’ part may be a difficult ask in these extraordinary times, Finley added, “I have this saying that I say to myself: you truly have to be really brave to be happy and find joy…. Look within and understand that this is a time to not beat yourself up, but to really understand how you can move forward in your happiness, and that, in itself, is a brave step to do.”