Chicagoans, visitors to the city commemorate and reflect on Juneteenth
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Juneteenth celebrations are still underway across the city where many are commemorating the day with festive gatherings.
The day is also being used to educate many on what it signifies. CBS 2's Andrew Ramos spent the day on the South Side with the story.
It is a day that celebrates not only freedom but the power of community.
Juneteenth is the day more than 200,000 enslaved African Americans in Confederate states were declared free over 150 years ago.
And Chicagoans reflected. Whether it was at a block party that encouraged families to paint the block orange for violence prevention...
"This block party, and this march, is to say that we stand for peace and we are celebrating Black culture," said community organizer Ariel Deney Rainey.
...Or a festival outside the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, the moment was met. South Side organizers focused not only on a festive celebration but one that was educational, giving attendees free access to all its exhibitions and shedding light on history sometimes hard to swallow.
"In this time, you have some people trying to keep us from being educated, and they're trying to legislate continued ignorance and that's bad for everyone," said Perri Irmer, the President and CEO of the DuSable Black Hist. Museum.
"Today is a special day because at the core it's the reason why Black people exist in America and we're here to celebrate that history that's not often talked about," said Glenn Eden, Board Chair of Choose Chicago.
For Vanessa Allen-Brown, who is visiting from Cincinnati and spent part of her day at the Emmitt Till exhibit at DuSable, the day she said should be seen as an opportunity, regardless of the color of your skin.
"This is our history. Good, bad, and indifferent. It is our history and I don't buy that thing. We're prone to repeat it. If we don't know it, we won't stop repeating it because we don't know it," said Allen-Brown.