Juneteenth Across the Bay: A Celebration of Heritage and Reflections on Injustice Past and Present

That was the beginning of Juneteenth — Black Independence Day, if you will. Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black people, many of whom are ancestors of enslaved Africans and Americans, for more than 150 years. And in 2021, President Biden made Juneteenth — June 19 — a federal holiday in the wake of nationwide protests over police killings of Black Americans. Federal observance of a day commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people should be a reminder that the United States continues to avert a true reckoning over the treatment of Black people. And instead of intentional policies to repair the harm caused by slavery and the systemic racism and discrimination that continues to emanate from more than two centuries of forced labor, most Americans get an extra day off of work.

But let’s not rain on a day when Black joy shines.

Two Black women, one in Bantu knots and another in a bright yellow head wrap, both in long, flowing, colorful clothing, dance alongside a drum circle on an outdoor stage. — Women dance alongside a drum circle during the Juneteenth celebration in Oakland on Saturday. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

Juneteenth in Oakland, which held its 14th annual Juneteenth festival Saturday, is a family affair. Known as Fam Bam, the party honoring Black culture and held at Lake Merritt Amphitheater, was actually the kickoff of a weekend-long celebration.

As people celebrate freedoms granted in the past, some are thinking about California’s ongoing reparations efforts.

Rows of people, mostly Black, sit outside on a green and brown lawn, with pitched white tents in rows behind them. — People sit facing Lake Merritt during Saturday’s Juneteenth festival. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

For Oakland resident Michael Spender, reparations mean “more channels to economic wealth, more channels to health care, more channels to security, the things that we need to have a better life … There’s a lot of money that is passed down, but it never seems to get where it’s supposed to go.”

Amid white and red vendor tents, two Black men in checkered shirts, jeans, and baseball caps sit atop horses on the asphalt, both stopped to talk to people below them dressed casually and carrying drinks. — People look on as Black cowboys ride past festivalgoers. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

The California Reparations Task Force will submit final recommendations to the Legislature at the end of this month.

Proposals will include how Black residents should be compensated for enduring oppression, and will suggest measures to repair decades of discriminatory policies in housing, education, health care, criminal justice and other areas.

A Black man with a wide grin and salt and pepper in his beard and mustache smiles into the sun beneath a woven cowboy hat. — Rapper Larussel poses for a portrait during Juneteenth in Oakland. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

“It’s more than just monetary,” said Fam Bam attendee Tonda Jackson from Oakland. “[It’s] education, housing, jobs.”

People gathered in cities across the Bay Area, including at Grace Bible Fellowship of Antioch for a Juneteenth celebration hosted by Grace Arms of Antioch, where there were bouncy houses, music and poetry performances, and wellness stations offering first aid and prayers.

Writer, poet and Antioch resident Ari Why said Juneteenth was open to everybody who’s ever been impoverished and “brought down by the system.”

A wooden bookshelf with three rows of children's books, covers facing out, and a chalk sign at the top saying, "Oakland Public Library." — The Oakland Public Library booth at Saturday’s Juneteenth festival. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

“If you look into the history, African Americans are the only ones that haven’t received reparations for what they went through,” said Why, who also shared a poem on stage. “Every other nationality actually was paid off. Even white Americans were paid off … Slave owners that lost slaves got reparations.”

A young Black man with trim hair and goatee and tattoo sleeves, wearing a black T-shirt that says "Retired Slave / In Honor & Memory and My Ancestors," raises his right fist and smiles slightly as he looks at the camera. — John Cannon, outreach coordinator with Legal Services for Prisoners With Children, poses for a portrait. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

“Our country seems to be in denial about slavery. They don’t want to talk about things,” said Carrie Frazier, executive director for Village Keepers, a nonprofit that supports Black families affected by poverty and systemic racism in East and Central Contra Costa County. “So for us to be able to know that our history is valid, it happened, and there was legislation to make it be freedom is important for us to know, because if we wait for the schools to teach it, we may never hear anything.”

Three Black children tumble and smile in an open jumpy house that is bright yellow, with neighborhood scenes on it, as a Black woman with long black hair and sunglasses rests her right arm on the side and watches them. — Lameir Moncrese, 6, Paris Moncrese, 5, and Legend Moncrese, 3, play. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

A young Black girl turns her face, smiling, to the camera, red dots decorating the right side of her face, as a Black woman in an orange and green dress and sunglasses paints the left side of her face. They sit knee to knee on folding chairs. — Keena Romano (right) paints Leairah Lockett, 10. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

A young Black girl, maybe 9, with yellow painted dots on her face sits smiling beside an older Black woman, wearing a colorful embroidered tunic with her head wrapped beneath matching white cotton with yellow dots painted across her forehead and nose, standing beside a Black man in sunglasses, a wide-brimmed hat, and a Tupac Shakur T-shirt, also smiling and holding two bubble hands in his left hand. — From left, Saniyah Johnson, Bush Mama Africa and Rick Johnson pose for a portrait. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

A young Black women with elaborate makeup -- pink and orange eye shadow, lined lips, '80s-style gold bamboo hoops, and a nose ring -- with long reflective blue-gray nails, holding a red parasol and wearing a black beanie with brooches on it, looks beyond the camera. — Keiyana Kemp poses for a portrait. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

A close-up of a Black woman holding up her '80s-style bamboo earring, with the word "Oakland" across it. Her hand has long, dark gray-painted nails. — Keiyana Kemp shows her earrings. (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

Two Black woman pose, smiling at the camera. The woman on the left looks over her right shoulder, showing the graphic on the back of her T-shirt and holding her friend's shoulder with her right arm. Both have long braids; the woman on the right has red, green, and yellow braids, and wears a red crop top, also a graphic T with an image of a Black woman. — Fanna Jackson-Hill (left) and Sarah Morgan pose for a portrait . (Amaya Edwards/KQED)

KQED’s Otis R. Taylor Jr., María Fernanda Bernal, Billy Cruz, Amaya Edwards, Lakshmi Sarah and Attila Pelit contributed to this story.

Juneteenth Across the Bay: A Celebration of Heritage and Reflections on Injustice Past and Present

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