County residents celebrate Juneteenth at Rebecca Howard Park

On Saturday, June 21, the Women of Color in Leadership Movement and Media Island International hosted Olympia’s fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration at Rebecca Howard Park. The City of Olympia and Community Youth Services cosponsored the event.

Over 100 area residents gathered at the downtown park to celebrate the national holiday. A variety of Black-owned businesses lined the adjacent Ninth Avenue Southeast, from art and clothing vendors to food trucks such as Jerk An’ Tingz, known for its Jamaican cuisine.

Shawna Hawk, founder of the Women of Color in Leadership Movement, has helped organize the city’s Juneteenth Celebration since it began in 2021, the same year the United States officially designated June 19 a federal holiday.

“This particular day is for Black businesses and organizations, and so being able to have that day of prosperity, because in the past when we were slaves, we got one day to rest, and that was usually on a Sunday,” Hawk said, adding that different places around the country, such as Congo Square in New Orleans, would let enslaved people gather once a week to sell their goods, work together and celebrate.

Hawk emceed Saturday’s event and performed as a singer. One of her numbers was a rendition of the jazz classic, “Summertime.” Javoen Byrd, an ethnomusicologist based out of Olympia, and Geordan Newbill, CEO and program director of the Buffalo Soldiers of Seattle, served as guest speakers.

Byrd’s work takes him around the world. A few years ago, it led him back home to Newport News, Virginia, where he unexpectedly learned about the Great Dismal Swamp, known for centuries as a refuge for Black Americans escaping slavery. Multi-generational communities developed there, despite the harsh natural conditions and the constant threat of capture — or worse.

Byrd’s journey then took him to Florida, where he learned about John Horse, leader of the Black Seminoles. Horse’s resilience inspired Byrd to continue his research. Everywhere he went, Byrd confronted examples of Black people fighting back — and winning — against slavery and tyranny.

During his speech, the ethnomusicologist questioned the narratives traditionally taught in the American school system, much of which ignores these victories against oppression. He later referenced the 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the discriminatory practice of redlining enforced long after slavery was abolished.

“We talk about, hey, American history, right? But why isn’t this history taught?” Byrd asked.
Byrd said that today’s Juneteenth celebration represents “the culmination of struggles, the culmination of the dreams of liberation that became true. And even though the history has been suppressed, it lies here within our blood.”

He thanked the audience for coming to celebrate the spirit of freedom, regardless of their background.

Newbill spoke to the history of Juneteenth and the tradition of the Buffalo Soldiers in America, the first all-Black regiments in the United States military. Until 1952, Black men served in segregated units.

“June 19, 1865, 2000 Black Union troops of the 25th Infantry… arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, liberating 250,000 slaves,” Newbill said. “This day came to be known as Juneteenth to the newly freed people of Texas.”

The day came 900 days after the Emancipation Proclamation first went into effect, and 71 days after Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union.

Newbill noted that the military was the first job available to Black American men in the United States.

“The military said, ‘Hey, you guys can come and join the military, you can learn how to read, you can learn how to write. We’re going to give you equal pay,’” Newbill said. “And you want to know what these men did with that? They took all of those resources, they took their uniforms, learning how to use these weapons, learning about the horses, learning about everything that the military had to offer and they took this resource and they took it back into their communities.”

Newbill said that Juneteenth marks the country’s second Independence Day, even though “this monumental event remains largely unknown to most Americans.”

“Black History is 365. It’s every day of every month. And it’s not Black History, it’s American History,” Newbill said.

Live music ran throughout the rainy afternoon, including a performance from the New Genesis Drumline, a youth ensemble affiliated with the faith-based Pathfinder Club. Later on, the Zambuko Marimba Ensemble, led by Sheree Seretse, brought guests out of their seats to dance along the grass in front of the stage.

Other attendees gravitated around a booth set up by the City of Olympia, where city representatives encouraged feedback on the latest plans for the completion of Rebecca Howard Park. Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne moved throughout the area, talking with vendors and attendees.

Shawna Hawk said Saturday’s celebration is significant for a number of reasons, not only to honor the empowerment of Black community members, but also to help the city keep its promise to finish development of the park. The park has been envisioned as an educational, inclusive and healing space designed to honor Black history in Olympia and Thurston County.

“I had no idea there were so many Black pioneers from this area that founded things, and so that needed to be told,” Hawk told the Nisqually Valley News.

Pioneers like Rebecca Howard, the entrepreneur who eventually became the park’s namesake — thanks in large part to Hawk’s advocacy with city leaders.

Howard was Olympia’s first Black businesswoman. Beginning in 1859, Howard successfully ran a popular hotel and restaurant. She was regarded for her business acumen, sharp wit and famous cooking.

Hawk says the event was also inspired by the desire to heal and focus on resilience — particularly during the wake of demonstrations sparked from the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and others.

Hawk, who was born in New York and raised in Hawaii, said she wasn’t familiar with Juneteenth growing up, but was happy to learn as an adult. Now she’s committed to spreading the message to the community.

“It gave me this feeling of it’s not too late,” Hawk said. “You can always expand your mind, always learn more about yourself and your people and other people. And learning about other people helped me appreciate learning more about myself.”