CUMBERLAND — The annual Juneteenth celebration took place at Canal Place Friday, celebrating the anniversary of the day the last enslaved individuals were freed with music, food and community spirit.
Juneteenth marks the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the last enslaved people two years after the proclamation was signed.
Jerome Younger and Frank Hamilton stepped up to take over the celebration after it was cancelled by the NAACP last week due to financial uncertainties.
“We’re a team of military guys; we all retired out of the military together,” Younger said. “We go around when there’s something going on in one of our hometowns, we try to support,” Younger said. “Juneteenth, we really like that. We buy all of the food, we have a trailer grill, we cook up all of the food and we give it away.”
Younger, who was born and raised in Cumberland, enjoys coming back to the region to help in various ways around the community.
The community celebration featured music, bounce houses, live entertainment, vendors and free food for all attendees.
Younger said organizing the event was largely a community effort. Money was put together by multiple community members and organizations to assist and was sponsored in part by the NAACP.
“It is wonderful. I try to come every year that they have anything dealing with the community,” DJ Jordan of Tangles and Knots Cosmetology and Hairstyling said. “The owner is Shalo Greene, and we had to be a part of this. Look at this, why not?”
Jordan and her daughter, Zaya King, were selling balloons, candy and hair accessories.
“My mom and her friend, they do hair and we’re selling candy and we’re selling balloons, just trying to show our Black pride,” King said.
King said she loves watching everyone, especially the kids being joyful and enjoying the day.
Billy Porter of Petersburg, West Virginia, was in charge of cooking corn on the cob in a large pot for attendees.
“This collaborative effort is one that’s unparalleled by so many things that we do in life. Just guys, we’re all coming together,” Porter said. “My brother-in law, their friends and they have a real cohesive knit. I’m a brother-in-law, so I just come out and he says, ‘Hey, so this is what we’re doing. Jerome will say I’m in training, but I deal with the corn and I do it well.”
On the grill, Buzz Jordan cooked burgers, chicken, hot dogs and sausages.
“We’ve been doing this for four years now supporting this event here by way of Jerome Younger, who’s from Cumberland. We all met in the military,” he said.
The event went until 7 p.m. Friday.
“It’s fulfilling, I’m in a position where I can help,” Younger said. “If I’m in a position to help, then I should help, and I feel that is what I do for the community. I give back.”