As more than a thousand people gathered at Emancipation Park to celebrate Juneteenth, Laurel resident Leon Bookman thought about the Alabama he remembers from the 1990s.
After moving there from New York as a teenager, Bookman said he was shocked by the open racial tension he encountered, memories that resurfaced as he celebrated Juneteenth with his daughters in Laurel.
“[Juneteenth] is a celebration not just one day a year but every day to remind ourselves that we are a free people,” Bookman said.
Bookman joined community members, elected officials and vendors who came together June 20 for the City of Laurel’s fourth annual Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, including the last enslaved people in Texas who learned of their freedom in 1865. Laurel first recognized Juneteenth in 2019 under then-Mayor Craig Moe. In 2022, the city started hosting an annual celebration. The event is usually held at Granville Gude Park, but this year it moved to Emancipation Park.
Sandra Choute, chair of the Laurel Juneteenth Freedom Day Celebration Committee, said the move brought the celebration closer to “The Grove,” a historic Black community in Laurel that served as a gathering place in the 1870s and is the site of an annual Emancipation Day event in September.
She said the celebration is meant to bring the community together across racial and cultural lines.
“We celebrate Juneteenth, not only to honor the profound resilience of those who survived the horrors of slavery but to lift up the rich culture, achievements and contributions of Black Americans,” Choute said in a speech opening the event.
The event also highlighted local businesses. More than a dozen vendor booths lined the park, with Black-owned businesses selling food, drinks and handmade crafts. Along Eighth Street, food trucks served visitors while families relaxed in lawn chairs and on park benches, chatting with neighbors and cooling off with ice cream in the 80-degree weather.
James Elango-Nnoko, 16, who was helping his aunt and uncle sell Nigerian bead bracelets for their online business, GC African Creations, said the celebration offered Laurel’s Black community a chance to reconnect with its heritage. According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates, more than 53% of Laurel residents identify as Black.
“We come together once a year to remember our roots and how we got here and just to appreciate what our ancestors have done for us,” Elango-Nnoko said.
Throughout the afternoon, DJ 2KNITRO kept the park moving with Black cookout staples, from the “Cha Cha Slide” and DJ Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat” to go-go music, while the Laurel High School choir performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and the Laurel Wildcats cheerleaders entertained the crowd.
Sonia Leriche, who arrived in Laurel 45 years ago from France, said she has attended the city’s Juneteenth celebration every year. As her 10-year-old and 8-year-old nieces were presented with a proclamation from Laurel Mayor Keith Sydnor, Leriche said she believes Juneteenth is about unity, coming together and sharing knowledge.
“There’s joy and unity that’s brought people here today,” Leriche said. “There’s so many vendors and people of all races out here. They’re able to love one another, and there’s no judgment.”
