A diverse crowd of a few hundred people gathered today at Town Field Park in Dorchester for a Black Lives Matter rally and to celebrate the Juneteenth holiday, the annual celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S., and a long-standing tradition for many African Americans.
Billed as a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-class rally, the event is both a continuation of the recent demonstrations decrying the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and a celebration of Juneteenth despite the official cancellation of many traditional events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joel Richards helped organize the event.
Richards described himself as “just a local guy who felt like we needed a rally,” and said he hoped to bring “different community voices together.”
“The first thing we're going to do is we're going to have a moment, while practicing social distancing, where we go and talk to somebody that doesn't look like us and isn't the same age as us or in the same race or ethnicity,” he said. “And we have a moment talk about how we're feeling right now. What do we hope for the future?”
“Most people don’t want to celebrate something like Juneteenth because then you’ve got to admit your faults,” Richardson added. “But it’s time that we talked about Juneteenth, that we celebrate it every year to remind ourselves what we could become.”
Labor leaders, public health professionals and public school teachers and spiritual leaders were among those who addressed the crowd, including William E. Dickerson, senior pastor of Greater Love Tabernacle in Dorchester.
"People wonder why you stay in Boston? It’s racist there. I say it’s racist everywhere, but we cannot run because of racism," he said.
Dickerson recounted his own experiences, including during the busing crisis in the 1970s. He urged the crowd to celebrate diversity in a way that acknowledges and appreciates “blackness.”
"Wherever you are, continue to talk about unity, talk about love, talk about peace, but do not ignore the pain around you," he said. "God bless you. Happy Juneteenth."
Racial equity in policing and the criminal justice system were among the issues addressed at today’s rally. They hit home especially hard for 28-year-old Vincent Davis, who was born and raised in the area.
"Any time I would walk down the street [I'd] get stopped for nothing. We wear our hat backwards, we’re stereotyped. We wear big sweatpants, we’re stereotyped. Cause you was black, you had a hoodie — things like that," Davis said.
Davis said he finished a near 10-year prison sentence 16 months ago. He noted the challenges ahead for a black man with a felony conviction — and his hope for the future.
"I ain’t never seen a movement like this," he said. "There’s plenty of movement but lately it’s been consistent. This right here is a blessing."
The event is taking place despite the official cancellation of other annual Juneteenth traditions in the City of Boston, including the Roxbury Homecoming, a special tradition among many in Boston’s Black communities, and which has always taken place in Franklin Park on June 19.
Earlier this week, a number of Boston City Council members, including Council President Kim Janey, called for the Juneteenth holiday to be made an official city, or state, holiday.
After a speech honoring Juneteenth Thursday, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said he supported the idea, but that doing so would require state legislation.
In press conference Friday, Gov. Charlie Baker issued a formal proclamation honoring Juneteenth and said the holiday is a “chance for us to recognize the painful history of slavery and racial injustice in this country, and to recommit ourselves to building a more equal and more just society.”
Asked whether he supported state legislation making the holiday an official one, Baker said he was “looking forward to working with our colleagues in the legislature on ways we can further recognize this holiday in the future.”
