The politics of canceling the newest Black federal holiday
For the newest federal holiday, declared with an appropriate star-studded presentation by President Joe Biden in 2021, some of the gleam is already fading fast. Juneteenth ( June 19th), a federal holiday created when President Joe Biden signed a bill passed by Congress during the heyday of the COVID scare, is being canceled this year in many places, including right here in Los Angeles, where it is known to be particularly lively. Some L.A. people even refer to Juneteenth as the West Coast Mardi Gras.
The holiday, established to celebrate the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free, has been controversial since its inception. In fact, it is historically inaccurate. While it does rightly celebrate the time that African Americans in Oklahoma (and to a certain extent, Texas) were informed about Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and the Confederacy’s surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, Va. ended slavery at least in those two states, Juneteenth does not, as erroneously advertised, identify the date that slavery in the U.S. was officially over. That date was actually December 6, 1865 when Georgia–representing the 27th state (out of 38 at the time) and thus the required 3/4 of the states at that time– ratified the 13th amendment. Nevertheless, the designation of Juneteenth as a national holiday In 2021 was a grandiose occasion, as it should have been.
Currently, there are 28 states (and the District of Columbia) that legally recognize and observe Juneteenth as a national public holiday. Philadelphia, Penn. claims to hold the largest Juneteenth festival in the U.S. every year, and still plans to do so this year. However, also this year, the holiday celebrations in many cities and states among those 28 are being canceled, ostensibly because of financial difficulties and lack of sponsorships, and other assorted rationales. Events planned in Los Angeles, California, Detroit, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee have been canceled in recent days for different reasons, with some citing “unforeseen circumstances” while others mentioned rising costs.
In California, the largest and most vibrant Juneteenth celebration is usually in Leimert Park in Los Angeles. This year, however, that will not be the case. The celebration in San Francisco is still scheduled to occur, certainly, but the Leimert Park event has been canceled for lack of funding, and concern over the possibility of violence.
The principal organizer and event planner of the L.A. Juneteenth Festival celebration, Alfred Torregano, the producer and executive director of the event , recently said, “The festival simply outgrew the designated event space.”
This free block party event, which was originally begun in Los Angeles by Texas native Jonathan Leonard back in 1949 (and called by some people, “Red Soda Water Day”) has always included stage performances, food trucks and Black-owned businesses selling their wares ( particularly jewelry, clothes, metal casting, etc.).
The event’s marketplace had come to regularly bring in more than $1 million in sales annually.
Torregano said that, “The annual Leimert Park Juneteenth Festival has become one of the largest Black community events in Los Angeles, second only to the annual Taste of Soul event.”
This year, city authorities said the festival events, especially the live entertainment events, would have to be relocated from the park area as a precautionary safety measure. The best possible venue change for that would be the nearby Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, where many other major Black cultural events have been previously held, but according to the Juneteenth organizers, they did not have enough time to negotiate an acceptable agreement with the property owners.
It seems odd that the two Black city council board members who share the Leimert Park area—Heather Hutt (10) and newly-designated City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson (8), did not step up to provide what was necessary for the 2024 Juneteenth celebration to commence in Leimert Park.
We remember that at least one of them is still standing for re-election in November.
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.
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