Plumes of smokey barbecue and sounds of soulful jazz music filled the air Saturday, June 17, in Maritime Heritage Park for Bellingham’s sixth-annual Juneteenth celebration.
The event featured a drag show, music entertainment from Canada-based Motown musician Checo Tohomaso, and the Seattle-based band Miz Floes and the Jazzy Sol. Booths from community organizations and local Black-owned businesses lined the park entrance to provide attendees with food, wares and education about the holiday and its history.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of legalized slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, the union army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation order in the state.
Among those who welcomed the soldiers were the great-great-grandparents of Terrance Teejay Morris, co-founder of Bellingham Unity Committee.
With ancestry from Galveston, Morris grew up celebrating Juneteenth. When he arrived in Bellingham in 2016, Morris said he wanted to bring “Black celebration” with him. Morris and others formed Bellingham Unity Committee in 2018 and organized the inaugural Juneteenth celebration with a budget of around $900.
This year’s celebration had a larger youth attendance that was noticed by Shovia Muchirawehondo, chair of the Racial Equity/Healthy Democracy Issue Team for Whatcom League of Women Voters. Muchirawehondo said the reason youth are attending events that highlight marginalized communities is because of a wave of state laws meant to alter how students learn.
“More young kids are coming because of the attacks in the classroom with book bans and budget cuts,” Muchirawehondo said. “They see how it affects them in the classroom and they connect that to what’s happening outside of the classroom.”
Muchirawehondo sees the growing youth attendance and majority white attendance at the celebration as an “example of solidarity.”
Attendees got to enjoy a drill, step and dance performance by Epitome Family Entertainment, a Seattle-based dance team. The dance performance was met with much fanfare and was the favorite performance for Leslie Chamberlan, a first-time Juneteenth celebration attendee.
“I am having a great time and it’s really wonderful to have this in our town,” she said.
The joyous atmosphere was shared by Jenae Williams, a local who was invited to her first Juneteenth celebration by her sister. Williams said the music and inclusive attitude of the celebration made her feel like she was a part of the community.
During the celebration, Mayor Seth Fleetwood and Muchirawehondo presented Morris with a certificate of recognition for his organizing efforts in making Juneteenth an annual celebration in Bellingham. Morris used the opportunity to highlight the Bellingham Unity Committee team and his family.
“I am the hopes and dreams of a slave,” Morris said. “My ancestors did it for me and I have to pay it forward.”
