In honor of the memory of the late Linda Sweezer, a founding member of the Kent Black Action Commission (KBAC), the organization has renamed their Juneteenth Festival and Celebration in her honor. According to members of KBAC, Sweezer was one of the heartbeats of our organization and bringing a Juneteenth Festival to Kent was her brainchild.
“We feel a great loss without her but we will forever honor her memory,” said the organization in a press release. “We will sing, dance, showcase local talent, celebrate our students, and share African American culture with the community.”
It has been 153 years since the word of the signing, on September 22, 1862, of the Emancipation Proclamation finally reached Galveston Texas, over two and one half years after the fact, on June 19, 1865. Each year on or about June 19thcelebrations take place across the United States to remember and pay homage to that historic day, and the Black combat regiments that helped defeat the Texas militia to make this announcement possible.
The opening ceremony will be held on Sat., June 23 at 10:30 a.m. at Morrill Meadows Park, 10600 SE 248th St. in Kent.
This is a free family friendly event with lunch provided by KBAC. There will be games for the children and no Juneteenth would be complete without our community dance.
The “Concert in the Park” will be anchored once again by nationally known and Seattle’s own jazz guitarist “Michael Powers”.
For more information, contact KbacKent@gmail.comor Gwen Allen-Carston at (253) 486-9029 or Azalea Johnson at (253) 631-7944 for vendor inquiries.
