As the Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market is winding down, the parallel street packed full of people. These are not random bystanders. These people are here for a purpose.
The Columbus Juneteenth parade prepares to roll onto Main Street.
“We had a great parade this morning,” said Lowndes County District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks, a key organizer of the event. “Everybody enjoyed it. We added a little extra to the route. It was quite successful.”
Close to 100 people in various vehicles, floats, ATVs, as well as police and fire personnel, participated in the parade, which began at the Roger Short Soccer Complex and went down Main Street to the Columbus Municipal Complex.
The parade was just one of the many events held to celebrate Juneteenth in Columbus alone.
Originally, a two-day festival was scheduled at Sim Scott Park, but storms shut Friday night’s festivities down.
Juneteenth, though the official federal holiday is Monday, commemorates the day Union soldiers emancipated the last of the slaves in 1865 in Galveston, Texas.
Saturday saw the vendors and organizers coming together to try again, and this time things worked out.
“Vendors are coming in and getting set up and we are trying to address some of the situations with the mud,” Brooks said. “So, if the rain stays away, we are anticipating a pretty good night.”
Some people came throughout the day to intermittently browse the various booths.
Tori Weir was one of those people.
“I think it’s good to have Black people come together and let us know about their companies or whatever else they are doing, to try to connect us,” Weir said. “I think it’s also good just to fellowship with them. It’s just a learning experience and a celebration of the end of slavery.”
It was the music late Saturday that brought the crowds out though. A gospel concert was held, followed by a blues concert.
Where this was Columbus’s 27th Juneteenth celebration, down the road a bit, Starkville held its second celebration weekend.
The festivities in Starkville kicked off on Wednesday with an evening of prayer.
Saturday was the culmination of the events with the jazz festival in Fire Station Park.
“We started with the evening of prayer on Wednesday and then we had the African attire party at Rick’s on Thursday,” said Frank Nichols, president for the Starkvegas Juneteenth Committee for Unity. “All of the events have been well-attended, with a great turnout. Everything has been great.”
Angela Hamilton set up at Columbus’ festival to represent the Mississippi Sickle Cell Organization. Her goal was to tell people about an illness that plagues the Black community.
“We are out here to educate our people on the sickle cell crisis as well as the chronic diseases that affect our community which are high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol,” Hamilton said. “Knowledge is power and so we are sharing our knowledge to get the resources available out there.”
Unity is key
The common denominator between both cities’ events was unity.
“It’s all about unity,” Nichols said. “Unifying and at the same time, learning about the African American culture, that’s the purpose of this. That’s all we are trying to do is educate and have fun doing it.”
Brooks echoed his statement, saying history should be learned from, and bringing people together is the best way to do that.
“This purpose is to educate people about the historical importance of Juneteenth, but the other thing is to create activities that will bring people together,” Brooks said. “… The whole notion of being enslaved and then being free is something to shout about, to celebrate. I think it’s very important for young people, and really all people, to understand that slavery was a part of our history as bad as it was. We shouldn’t ever forget.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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