MIAMI — Juneteenth -- Freedom Day -- drew young and old to North Miami’s Griffing Park Friday to celebrate freedom, culture and community.

Vendors set up across the park, offering handmade jewelry and bold statement pieces crafted with African fabrics and beads -- items that carry meaning beyond their appearance.

“We want to be able to find something that says this is from home,” said vendor Ruky Afanu. “You’re not from Ghana or anywhere from Africa but you can use these things to say this is us. This is a part of our representation.”

The holiday commemorates the day the last enslaved African Americans in Texas learned they were free -- more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. And while people gathered from different backgrounds, organizers say that’s part of the power of the day.

“I think we are all one people,” Afanu said. “Our great grandfathers, ancestors are from Africa. We are one people.”

Juneteenth is celebrated one day a year, but a group of young ambassadors from different Miami neighborhoods are on a mission to keep that conversation going the other 364 days.

Constance Robinson, founder of the South Florida Miss Juneteenth pageant, said she created it after realizing how many people were unfamiliar with the holiday.

“I created a pageant that had a base in our city so they can spread the freedoms that we share,” Robinson said.

South Florida’s reigning Miss Juneteenth, Ciara Johnson, said visibility is key to keeping the history alive.

“It’s not talked about enough,” Johnson said. “The more they see us, the more it gets talked about.”

Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.