Juneteenth is a celebration of the Black freedom struggle. On June 19, 1865—two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed—a Texas Major General delivered news that the Civil War had ended and enslaved Africans were now “free.” Over 150 years later, as a result of individual and collective policy-decisions, Black community remain in a social sub-caste, occupying the bottom rung of nearly every social metric. For KCEN and ACLT, Juneteenth represents a call-to-action for Black equity and a demand to implement self-determined, pro-Black policies that close the equity gap on a timeline that doesn’t last into the next century.

Last year, we hosted the historic Juneteenth Celebration with over 35,000 supporters in attendance. Uplifting local history, we began the march on 23rd and Madison to honor the late Decharlene Williams and her Central Area activism where, nearly 40 years ago, she established the Central Area Chamber of Commerce and brought Juneteenth to Seattle. Watch the video below from our Freedom March last year.