Shelley Covington found out about Juneteenth five years ago when she was working with students doing research on Black history. One of her students was from Texas and introduced her to the holiday. Since then, celebrating Juneteenth has been a part of her annual routine.
This Juneteenth, Covington stopped at Flanner House to check out the Ujamaa Community Bookstore, visited some friends she hadn’t seen since the start of the pandemic at Bethel Park, said hi to folks at the H.E.R. Living Campus and finished her day supporting Black business booths in the Pan Am Plaza.
As many continue to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre, Covington, 58, said “it is imperative to rebuild what our ancestors built.”
“We do that by supporting, celebrating and encouraging our own,” she said.
The weekend of Juneteenth was a time for many in Indianapolis to celebrate the day enslaved people in Texas were notified of their freedom in 1865. What started as an intimate celebration with family, friends and neighbors is now celebrated nationwide.
Events such as the Juneteenth Virtual 5K Walk/Run/Bike, BikeTeenth and Juneteenth Jamboree were also popular destinations for those celebrating the holiday weekend.
BikeTeenth is an initiative specifically for the Black community to connect with their history and health. BikeTeenth co-founder Cassie Smith-Johnson celebrated the second straight year of taking to downtown streets as over 250 participants biked the nearly 8-mile Indianapolis Cultural Trail.
The event is supposed to bring a positive outlook on the African American community.
Smith-Johnson said this year’s event was focused on benefiting underprivileged youth, and the money raised from the event went to the Boys and Girls Club at Riverside.
Cree Harris, co-founder of the Juneteenth Virtual 5K Walk/Run, had last year off for Juneteenth and decided to make her own event, which sold out this year and had participants from 23 different states.
“It was truly just a labor of love,” Harris said.
Harris learned about Juneteenth in an African American studies class in high school but didn’t celebrate it until last year. Next year, she wants to open the event to more people and create a route that starts and ends at the Madam Walker Legacy Center.
With Juneteenth now a federal holiday, Smith-Johnson said she hopes it will help grow her event in the future and urges people to take time to learn more about the history of Juneteenth.
“I don’t recall learning about Juneteenth in school,” Smith-Johnson said. “Do your research. Celebrate it.”
Harris called making Juneteenth a federal holiday a “very small step in a very long journey.”
“On one hand, it’s awesome that we are acknowledging the holiday,” she said. “But on the other side there are other things happening like voter suppression and not teaching racism in school.”
Covington said it is good to see advocates such as Opal Lee — a leader in the movement to make Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday — live long enough to see her work come to pass.
“This will allow community elders and activists to build on her work for future generations,” she said.
Contact staff writer Terrence Lambert at 317-924-5243. Follow him on Twitter @_TerrenceL_.
