St. Louisans marked Thursday’s Juneteenth holiday at festivals, parades and other celebrations around the region.
People said the holiday, which celebrates the liberation of enslaved people in the U.S. after the Civil War, marks a time to remember African American history, spend time with family and celebrate joy.
Despite the blazing sun and rising temperatures, hundreds of people flocked to West Florissant Avenue in Dellwood for the city’s Juneteenth parade and festival, which featured troupes of dancers in spangled uniforms, booming drum lines and other local groups tossing toys and candy from cars.
One group — the 40-Plus Double Dutch Club — drew particularly loud cheers from the crowd as members took turns jump-roping down the 1.5-mile route.
“Double Dutch is Black history,” said group member Trezette Dixon. She explained that because it typically only took a clothesline folded in half to jump rope, double Dutch was an accessible activity for Black children who didn’t have money to spend on toys.
“We are unapologetically celebrating freedom to be ourselves, to be a part of our community that's thriving,” she said. “To be an example to those that need us – to show that we are one St Louis, one voice, one movement.”
At the end of the parade’s route, some dancers and onlookers took the opportunity to skip rope with the club.
For some, Juneteenth is an opportunity to spend a day with family. Nellie Toliver watched the parade with her granddaughter, Olivia Broadnax.
“The older generation … they've gone through a lot of things that [have] made them who they are, and it's really helped me be who I am,” Broadnax said.
Tolliver said she celebrated the holiday with her own grandmother.
“My grandmother, when she was alive, and my mom would always talk about the struggles and the things that they went through,” she said. “There’s still a lot to be done.”
Later in the day, a line formed inside the Griot Museum of Black History on St. Louis Avenue of people waiting to take in the exhibits. Griot founder and President Lois Conley said that since Juneteenth became a federal holiday, she’s seen more people want to take part.
“This is becoming a larger and larger event each year, “ she said. “It's becoming more diverse. It's becoming a great opportunity for us to share the story of Black people in general, but particularly the story of Juneteenth.”
Conley said there are a lot of misconceptions about what Juneteenth celebrates. The day does not commemorate when enslaved people were freed, she said, but instead when Union troops arrived in Texas to inform residents that people weren’t allowed to own slaves.
She said that she isn’t a fan of the growing commercialization of the holiday – “I would prefer to not have a Juneteenth Ice Cream” – but that “any opportunity for us to celebrate who we are and the strength of us as a people is an opportunity we want to take advantage of.”
Outside the museum, Fred Dunlap of St. Louis lounged on a bench while a DJ played the classic proto-disco hit “Love Train” by the O’Jays.
He said the celebration, which also included vendors and dancing, offered relaxation for residents in neighborhoods hit by last month’s storms.
“After this tornado, it needs something like this to calm everybody down, because it's rough and it's going to be rougher for a minute,” he said. “So something like this really helps a lot.”
See photos from area celebrations by St. Louis Public Radio's Lylee Gibbs.
