The Juneteenth flag was raised in the city of Lockport for the first time at noon Monday, at the flag pole on Canal Street.
Juneteenth was declared a national holiday three years ago. Mayor John Lombardi III said the Juneteenth flag was raised on June 3, rather than June 19, the official holiday, so that it will be flying and visible for a longer time.
“It took 146 years for the day to be declared a federal holiday and now all 50 states recognize the day,” he observed.
Lombardi credited his confidential assistant, Paula Halliday-Travis, with organizing the flag raising and the city’s first-ever Juneteenth Celebration, which is slated June 22.
The celebration will feature a late morning parade from the AME Church on South Street to Lockport High School, where there’ll be vendors and food trucks. Parade walkers are still being recruited; contact Halliday-Travis at 716-439-6665 for more information.
At the Canal Street flagpole, Halliday-Travis led a group of observers in prayer.
“This flag raising doesn’t just represent freedom for us, it represents equality for our community,” Halliday-Travis said.
Also Monday at the Canal Street flagpole, Niagara Pride raised a flag in celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride month.
“These flag raising ceremonies, more and more, are becoming very important to the LGBTQ community, as well as to all of the communities that we live in and work in,” Niagara Pride president Ronald Piaseczny said.
The Juneteenth and Pride flags are flying on Canal Street after the Lombardi administration decided to fly only the American, New York State and POW flags in front of city hall, Halliday-Travis said.