Amid the dancing, music, food and other activities, Jermaine Watson, manager of the African-American Cultural Center, took time to explain Friday’s “Juneteenth” celebration.
During the celebration, flyers were handed out explaining the holiday, which acknowledges the day Union soldiers entered Galveston, Tx., and informed the slaves the Civil War had ended and all slaves were freed.
Watson said the reason for the event was to inform people of all races about the holiday, which he said is the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery.
“Most people don’t even understand the celebration,” he said. “Our mission is to explain the culture.”
The block party on Raphael Semmes Road was co-sponsored by the Black Faculty and Staff Caucus, the Union Program Council and several student organizations.
The celebration was originally scheduled for June 20 but was rescheduled due to the University-sponsored commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Baton Rouge bus boycotts.
Watson said it was difficult throwing the party a week earlier than originally scheduled.
“We had one less week of programming and publicity,” he said.
Watson, a Universit alumnus, said the decision to move the celebration up a week, even though Juneteenth is traditionally recognized June 19, was made in an attempt to avoid pulling from the same crowd. He said many of the people who attended the celebration would also attend the commemorative events to be held at LSU and Southern University.
Some people expressed disappointment in the lack of racial diversity at the event.
“We were hoping for a bigger variety of people,” said Raushanah Hunter, president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, another co-sponsor of the event.
However, Hunter said the addition of a fashion show, a softball game and other activities helped the event reach more people.
“I thought the added fashion show of African garb was fascinating and a good addition,” Hunter said.
The event also had a space walk and face painting for kids. The producers said they hoped no one would go hungry with the abundance of hamburgers, hotdogs, crawfish, chips and other foods.
Between bites, four-year-old Madelyn Myer said the fun jump and the face painting were her favorite things at the event.
“[The kids] had a great time,” said Madelyn’s mother Rene’e Myer. Rene’e said there were so many activities for kids they could not decide what to do. Watson said the AACC also invited high school seniors to the event.
Although he did not know how many actually attended, Watson said each year he meets several freshmen at the University who tell him they attended the “Juneteenth” celebration while in high school.