MIAMI – Juneteenth is on Monday, but the commemoration was already kicking off on Friday at the African Square Park in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood.
Samantha Quarterman, the executive director of the Multi-Ethnic Youth Group Association, also known as MEYGA, an education center, at 466 NW 62 St.
“Being here in a black community, it brings us closer together,” Quarterman said. “You can expect good music, good food.”
Quarterman said MEYGA has been helping kids and their families through art, literacy, and empowerment for about 15 years.
“This is a safe haven for our kids,” Quarterman said adding, “God does that, but we are a part of that and I’m a servant of Him and that’s one of the reasons that I’m here so we are saving kids lives from gangs.”
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Markesha Lamy is among the graduates of the MEYGA programs.
“I just want to tell everyone that you are you, and you are beautiful, even if you’re Black, white purple, green,” Lamy said.
Florida is among the states that do not recognize June 19 as an official holiday.
It has been two years since President Joe Biden signed legislation recognizing Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, as the nation’s 12th federal holiday.
Related Editorial: The importance of Juneteenth
Juneteenth observances not only raise awareness about the African diaspora, slavery, and the painful history of the Civil War but are also an opportunity to celebrate freedom.
Juneteenth’s history goes back to President Abraham Lincoln issuing the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, and to the 2 1/2 years it took for the news to get to Texas.
Union soldiers arrived on June 19, 1865, in Galveston with the order for slaves to be freed. It was just about two months after the Confederacy surrendered.
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