The sun came out just in time for the fourth annual Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony outside Harlem’s Adam Clayton Powell State Office before showers resumed on a rainy, gloomy summer week. Divine intervention or providence?
“The bottom line is, this is a great day understanding that they have predicted rain on Thursday in which would have been a bad situation overall to do what was done here today,” State Senator Robert Jackson told the AmNews. “I’m just happy that it went well.”
His colleague, State Senator Cordell Cleare, hosted the event to honor the date of Black liberation and emancipation marking 160 years since Union Major Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Tx. to inform enslaved people of their freedom. Juneteenth became a state holiday in 2020 and federal holiday in 2021.
“We were actually fighting to make this a holiday,” said Cleare. “And unfortunately it took the tragic event of George Floyd’s death for the state to turn around and say we’ll make Juneteenth a holiday. To me, that was a great, great milestone. Once it became a holiday, now we have to make sure that people observe it.
“People of all colors and all faiths, this is an American holiday and this is a day when America began to redeem itself. So we should all be proud and we should all celebrate.”
Mayoral candidates Adrienne Adams, Zellnor Myrie, and Michael Blake spent their last Thursday before the election attending. Other electeds who appeared include assemblymembers Jordan Wright and Michaelle Solages, as well as State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal.
Students from nearby schools performed during the ceremony and local electeds Cleare, Jackson and Assemblymember Al Taylor handed out certificates of appreciation to the youngsters for their participation in Juneteenth programming.
Cleare recently introduced a bill to declare the Juneteenth flag designed by activist Ben Haith as “the official state flag for raising awareness of the history of slavery, the struggles African Americans have faced, and the ongoing fight for equity today.” An American flag and a Pan African flag were also lifted in the ceremony.
But on the federal level, the national holiday faces attacks by the Trump administration both over recent social media posts and general pressure against DEI initiatives. But Cleare says the regressive efforts cannot put the genie back in the bottle.
“Once you know something, no one can take that away,” said Cleare. “Those young people know what today is. The community knows what today is. So whether somebody sitting up somewhere says ‘we are not going to do this anymore,’ you can’t take it out of my mind and you can’t take it out of my heart. I can come and do this anytime I want.”