LANSING, Mich. — All week, Lansing will be having events to celebrate Juneteenth, and I went to Lansing Juneteenth Celebration's kick-off event at Lansing Community College Thursday night.
I talked to one of the organizers to see why it is so important have an event like this.
A strong African drum show to begin Lansing’s Juneteenth Celebration.
"We’re here in recognition, in recognition of Lansing’s 30th annual Juneteenth Celebration, and people are really excited about that, and there’s a lot of conversations taking place," Juneteenth Committee Chairperson Marilyn Rogers said.
The event, which was packed with so much culture and appreciation, was emceed by FOX 47’s Asya Lawrence and came along with some pretty important keynote speakers.
"Our keynote speaker, Michigan Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, she is our keynote, and she has an audience of all types of people but especially young people," Rogers said.
And speaking of young people, about 10 teens were given scholarships for winning the Juneteenth essay competition.
"They had to learn about Juneteenth and put into an essay what does it mean to them and why or why not we should still celebrate it," Rogers said.
And some say you’re never too young to learn about the holiday. Just ask Julian Van Dyke, who was at the event promoting his children’s book “Juneteenth."
"Juneteenth tells the origination of our ancestors when they got the proclamation of being freed, and some of the things they did of celebrating Juneteenth. And just tells the story in a nice, humane way to our children," Van Dyke said.
And organizers say the best part of the event was the diverse crowd that showed up to celebrate a holiday that means so much.
"Everybody is just truly excited. The excitement is in the air, and we got all kinds of people here from different walks of life," Rogers said.
Want to see more local news? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Neighborhood News, Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines, and Daily Forecasts.
