Event in LaSalle Park for Juneteenth, anniversary of the release of the last slaves
SOUTH BEND — The crowd at LaSalle Park fell silent as David Smith sang an a cappella version of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black national anthem. “Lift every voice and sing. … Ring with harmonies of freedom,” Smith sang, his powerful voice giving attendees of the city’s 24th annual Juneteenth celebration a moment of calm before the event began.
The celebration took place on Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating June 19, 1865, the day enslaved African Americans in former Confederate states gained their freedom. Final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was ordered in Texas on June 19, two years after President Lincoln originally issued the Executive Order on January 1, 1863.
For many, including Ta’nia Perry, a Purdue Polytechnic high school student who attended the event, the holiday is a nod to a broader understanding of American history.
“We often think of July 4 as Independence Day, even though African Americans didn’t really become free until Juneteenth,” Perry said.
Local black businesses, nonprofits and food vendors set up tents in LaSalle Park on Saturday afternoon to greet community members, share information and sell their products. Prominent members of South Bend’s black community, such as Gladys Muhammed, who retired from the South Bend Heritage Foundation, and Verge “Brother Sage” Gillam, were in attendance. Muhammed delivered speeches by Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Brother Sage led a brief libation ceremony to commemorate the community’s ancestors at the start of the event. Musicians and spoken word poets from the South Bend area also performed later in the day.
Cynthia Taylor was one of the small business owners at the event, selling a line of coloring books she designed and inspired by time spent with her four grandchildren.
“A coloring book with their culture and kids that look like them … that’s hard to find,” Taylor said. “And so I thought if I created it myself, they would recognize themselves in the coloring book.”
One of her books, titled “The Brown Sugar Chefs ‘Soul Food’ Coloring Book: African American Women Cooking In The Kitchen,” introduces young children to African American culinary traditions.
Taylor has lived in South Bend for 27 years and said Juneteenth celebrations in the area have evolved over the years as awareness of the holiday has grown.
“It was more intimate, you might go to church and families would come together to celebrate,” she said, continuing, “Now different organizations in the community come together, along with businesses and the city of South Bend for Juneteenth.”
Mia Diggins sold body and hair oil that she makes herself at the Juneteenth celebration. Diggins started her business after her daughter died of cancer in 2022. She wanted to create a hair growth oil that would help cancer survivors.
“When they go through chemotherapy and lose their hair, it takes a toll on their self-esteem,” Diggins said. “I wanted to do something for them.”
Since developing the hair growth oil, Diggins has expanded its offerings to include beard oils for men and body moisturizers for people with eczema and sensitive skin.
Representatives from several nonprofit organizations were present at the event to promote their community programs and resources. Groups in attendance included Dismas House, an organization that runs housing and reintegration programs for former inmates, the City of South Bend Human Rights Commission, and 100 Black Men of Greater South Bend, an organization that provides mentoring and blood pressure screenings for African-American men, among others.
The free event was organized by the South Bend Chapter of the Indiana Black Expo. Regina Browder-Fleming, a member of the chapter who helped organize the event, said that while Juneteenth 2021 has been declared a federal holiday, South Bend is one of the few municipalities in Indiana to officially observe it and give its employees a day off.
Browder-Fleming said that for her, Juneteenth is about people of different backgrounds and races celebrating freedom in community.
“It’s about everyone coming together,” she said, “and freeing themselves from slavery.”
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