As a child, Tanyah Barnes celebrated Juneteenth at small festivals organized by the Black community in her hometown of Tampa, Florida.
After relocating to the Southern Tier for a position at Binghamton University, Barnes became an active volunteer with local civic organizations, including the Broome-Tioga NAACP, which is a sponsor of Binghamton’s Annual Juneteenth Celebration.
This was Barnes’ first year serving on the Binghamton Juneteenth Committee and she estimated the event drew over 500 people to Columbus Park.
“There are significantly more folks out here than there were in 2019,’ said Barnes.
While Barnes attributes the social isolation of 2020 — the Juneteenth Celebration wasn’t held last year due to COVID-19 — as a factor in this year’s large turnout, Juneteenth’s recent designation as a state and federal holiday may have also brought some new people to the celebration.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo enacted legislation declaring Juneteenth a holiday in New York state in 2020, while President Joe Biden made it a federal holiday on Thursday.
“But it’s not a new holiday,” Barnes said. “We’ve been doing Juneteenth here for years.”
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Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas, nearly two and a half years after it was issued by President Abraham Lincoln.Â
Barnes said she has “mixed feelings” about Juneteenth becoming a federal holiday.Â
“I know there have been Black activists and policy-makers who have been fighting for a long time for Juneteenth to be recognized and I am personally happy to see it be recognized as a national holiday,” said Barnes. “But I also want to see the other policy changes that the Black community have asked to be achieved.”
Among the policy changes that Barnes sees necessary for the Black community are the Voters Rights Bill, criminal justice reform and reparations.
“There needs to be the re-establishing of policies that would really create equity in the Black community,” said Barnes. “There’s been generations and generations of generational wealth gap and education and health care.”
The free event kicked off with the singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — the Black National Anthem — and an afternoon of educational events, entertainment and a basketball tournament. Vendors, food and community services were also offered.
J.B. Rollins, member of both the United Elks and the Broome-Tioga NAACP, flipped burgers and hot dogs on a flaming grill. The two groups jointly provided the free food for the crowd.
“We do this every year,” Rollins said.
The Carroll Street park is referred to by some as Assata Shakur Park, and references to the name were included in promotions for the event.
Shakur was convicted in New Jersey of murdering a police officer, but escaped from prison in 1979 and is one of the FBI’s most wanted people. She was granted political asylum by Cuba but many activists use her conviction and activism as part of their calls for Black justice.Â
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