Seattle celebrates Juneteenth with Black culture ‘unapologetically on display'

Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. The tradition began in 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Texas received word, belatedly, of their emancipation. The celebrations have spread around the country, and in the wake of nationwide protests after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis in 2020, the day became a federal holiday.

Marcus Harrison Green is the founder of the South Seattle Emerald, a columnist with The Stranger, and co-host of the new podcast In the Meanwhile. He talked to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about holiday celebrations here in Seattle.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: You've got a great guide created by Jas Keimig posted in the Emerald for Juneteenth. At least 10 events in our area are listed. Were you surprised at that number?

Marcus Harrison Green: A little bit, honestly. Just in the terms of recent history, there seemed like there were more Oklahoma City Thunder fans in Seattle than there were Juneteenth events. So, this is a pleasant surprise, I'll say, for somebody who definitely wants to celebrate the holiday.

Let's hit the highlights. What's the first one you're looking forward to?

My personal favorite is going to be the Juneteenth Skate to Freedom Party taking place in Judkins Park tomorrow, hosted by the Northwest African American Museum. I remember, seven years ago, I was a beat reporter with The Seattle Times, and we were literally scavenging to find events. We were having a very difficult time, and I remember this skate party was one of the first and few ones that were actually going on. It started out with dozens of people attending, but there were almost a thousand people there last year. It's just been amazing to see the growth. Everybody from seniors to school-aged children to teenagers get out there and just have a good time.

I also heard you're excited for the Summer of Soul celebration at Jimi Hendrix Park. Tell us a bit about that.

You can start the day by skating, and then hop over to Jimi Hendrix Park for some food, some fun, some celebration. It's going to be a lot of musical performances, vendors from Black businesses. It's almost as if it was a large family cookout for the entire Black community. And if you just really want to see Black culture unapologetically on display tomorrow, I’d say that the Jimi Hendrix Park celebration is for you.

Before I let you go, I’m curious what your sense is of the cultural significance now of this holiday, here in Washington and across the country, four years after it became a statutory holiday.

I think it's taken on a richer and deeper resonance, particularly after it became a federal holiday. I'll say, for so many people, what this represents is the nuance and the complexity of our society, in the sense that, yes, we acknowledge there's a lot of joy in the liberation of folks in Galveston, Texas, who were freed, but we also need to acknowledge the fact that this was delayed justice for these folks, right?

So, for me, and this is what I tell my stepson Nathan, when he was asking me earlier about Juneteenth and why we should all care about it, why is it more than just a Black holiday? To me, it's a truly, uniquely American holiday, because it reminds us of what it took to get freedom for everybody, what it took to build a more equitable society, what it took to make progress, and honestly, it's progress that we are still trying to make right now. And the thing is it takes all of us. It took people of all races in this country to ensure a baseline of freedom, and a baseline of liberation. At the end of the day, that past is our legacy, right? And so, I think to bring it to today, Juneteenth makes us ask, what do we want our legacy to be right now in terms of how we continue to make progress in this world and in this society?

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