SALEM — Salem’s second annual Juneteenth Jam celebrations kicked off on Wednesday afternoon with a Juneteenth flag raising at Riley Plaza.
The event was marked by speakers calling upon the community to continue to advocate for a just and equitable community.
“This is a moment for us to be able to reiterate that Salem remains as deeply committed as ever to the work of creating a more equitable and more just community for all,” Mayor Dominick Pangallo said.
“From city hall, to our schools and throughout our community, we will not be part of this apparent new fad to erase Black history. We’re doubling down on everything from educator and workforce diversity to embedding equity criteria in our procurement policies, from expanding our equity training for city employees to teaching all of American history in our schools.”
Monique McNeil, a member of the city’s Charlotte Horton advisory group, called upon community members to take action and speak out about the rights that Black people in the nation still are denied to this day.
“Juneteenth is more than a date on a calendar, it’s a powerful reminder that freedom in America has always come with resistance, and we are not truly free until we are all free,” she said. “… Too many of us are still waiting for our liberation to be fully recognized and appreciated.”
This year’s theme, “Bigger, Blacker, Bolder,” invites Salem to show up for the Black community by celebrating culture, as well as creating a space for joy, connection, and pride.
This year’s celebration is bigger and more involved than the flag raisings just two years prior, as the celebration now spans two days and includes a full-day family event at Charlotte Forten Park with live music, free food, a reading of Fredrick Douglass’s fourth of july speech, a Black history walking tour, and a premiere screening of the new Charlotte Forten documentary at Cinema Salem.
The expansion of Salem’s Juneteenth celebrations is in large part thanks to the advocacy of city Constituent Services & Special Projects Assistant and LGBTQIA+ liaison Michael Corley. He reflected on how much the event has grown over the past three years, with just one $2,000 grant facilitating a variety of new programming.
“It was small but meaningful,” he said. “Families came out, we shared food and culture, and ended the evening with an outdoor movie. This year, we’re doing it again- bigger, bolder and blacker.”
The city’s DEI director, Regina Zaragoza Frey, said Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, and a call to remember the resilience of Black communities who have fought for dignity, safety, and justice – often in the face of silence, violence, and erasure.
“It is also a reminder that freedom has never been evenly granted in this country, but has been demanded, organized for, and defended in Salem,” she said.
More information can be found about this year’s Juneteenth events in Salem at salemma.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=110.
Michael McHugh can be contacted at mmchugh@northofboston.com or at 781-799-5202