Juneteenth is celebrated by Idaho’s Black communities
With live performances, local vendors, food and dance, community members gathered in celebration for the fourth annual “Family Function.” Juneteenth event on Saturday at Julia Davis Park in downtown Boise. For a weekend of celebration, Juneteenth Idaho and the Black Liberation Collective partnered with local organizations and Black-owned businesses such as The Honey Pot CBD, 2C Yoga, Honey’s Holistics, Cut-N-Up, Amina’s African Sambusas, among many others.
Juneteenth celebration by Idaho’s Black communities
Last year, the state and federal government signed a law designating June 19 — known as Juneteenth — as an official holiday. Though it was a public holiday only as of last year, Juneteenth has historical celebration by Black communities across the country to honor the emancipation of enslave African Americans during the end of the Civil War.
“On June 19, 1865 — over two years after President (Abraham) Lincoln declared all enslaved people free — Maj. General Gordon Granger and Union Army troops marched to Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation and free the last enslaved Black Americans in Texas,” the federal proclamation declaring the date a federal holiday said. The Boise community was not the only city in Idaho celebrating Juneteenth this weekend. Holiday celebrations took place across the state with events happening in Twin Falls and Lapwai. Students at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg will also celebrate the date on Monday.
“Juneteenth is a space of so much Black joy for people across the diaspora. It’s just empowering to know that people who look like you and who share a common heritage are all here in Idaho, even if we don’t see each other often,” said Prisca Hermene, a Boise resident originally from the Congo who volunteered and performed at the Boise event.
Concerns have been raised following the arrests of Patriot Front members in North Idaho.
Community organizers expressed safety concerns for the Juneteenth event. This was after a group of men from the white nationalist group Patriot Front appeared in Coeur d’Alene the day of a Pride event. The Patriot Front members were arrest on June 11 for conspiracy to riot after a 911 caller alert the police to a group of men crowding inside in a U-Haul truck. Nonprofit leaders participating in the Boise Juneteenth event expressed their personal thoughts on the incident.
“It’s terrifying and triggering. You never think, ‘Oh that U-Haul truck holds people who dislike me because I’m Black,’” said Whitley Hawk, the co-founder of Inclusive Idaho. “There are groups of people that say racism doesn’t exist. Then you have people who feel comfortable enough to come to a state that they don’t live in to endorse it.” There was a shared sense of sadness, fear and tragedy among the leaders who ran booths on Juneteenth. However, some expressed a sense of gratitude toward those who stopped the potential riot.
Shari Baber
Shari Baber, the president of the Boise Soul Food Festival, vice president of the Idaho Black Community Alliance. Also board member of the mentorship organization Brown Like Me, says, ‘she is proud of the person who decide to call the police. This is to prevent something that could have been devastating.
“Am I sad that groups like this still exist? Yes. But to me, I would have been more devastating if they were all from Idaho. Most of them came here from somewhere else. What that says to me is they have to go outside of our community to get their numbers,” Baber says. Baber recommended people step out of their comfort zone. This is as one way Idahoans can make people of color feel safer in their communities.
“If you pull out your camera, and in every one of your group photos. Everybody looks only like you, then you’ve probably got some work to do. Step out of your comfort zone and come to these events. Support a Black business or go to the Idaho Black Community Alliance website. This will help you to find over 85 Black businesses located right here in Idaho.”
Despite the recent events in North Idaho, this year’s community-wide Juneteenth celebration represents Black residents’ ability to grow. This also uplift their close-knit community in the state.
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