Juneteenth marchers on Shrewsbury Avenue in 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bankers are set to commemorate the federal and New Jersey state holiday of Juneteenth with an afternoon of activities Sunday.
The festivities begin at noon with a march from Pilgrim Baptist Church, at 172 Shrewsbury Avenue. Led by Reverend Terrence Porter, participants will walk several blocks south, to Ralph Gatta “Johnny Jazz” Park, at the corner of Drs. James Parker Boulevard.
There, the keynote speaker will be Larry Hamm, a lifelong Essex County activist and the director of the Newark-based People’s Organization for Progress.
In the park will be live music, food, craft vendors, nonprofit organizations, student volunteers and more coming together as a community is to honor the past and celebrate a new day.
Juneteenth dates to 1865 in the Confederate state of Texas. Although President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing all slaves, those enslaved in Texas didn’t learn of their freedom until two years later, when General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston on June 19 and read the proclamation.
This event is organized by the Red Bank Parks and Recreation Committee’s Juneteenth subcommittee.
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