Despite the rain, the State College community gathered downtown Saturday for a block party celebrating Juneteenth with music, dance, cultural traditions and powerful reflections.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The theme was “Juneteenth: Our Freedom, Our Fight, Our Future,” which shaped the spirit of the day through performances, speakers and community engagement.
“Liberty without equality is unfinished,” Chiluvya Zulu, the diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging director for the Borough of State College, said. “Our future is being written right now by the leaders, the artists, the activists, the educators and the children in this very crowd.”
The celebration began at noon with a performance by the Marching Cobras, a high-energy band from New York that set the tone for the day.
Attendees were then welcomed by Charles Dumas, award-winning actor, director and Penn State professor emeritus, who encouraged the crowd to reflect on the importance of freedom and unity.
Following him, Jacinta Garcia, Native and Indigenous community coordinator at Penn State, delivered a moving Ganonyok Thanksgiving Address, acknowledging the land, creator, labor and all elements of creation.
A central feature of the celebration was the Juneteenth art exhibition curated by Dr. Grace Hampton, professor emerita of art at Penn State.
The gallery featured works that reflected themes of freedom, ancestry and collective memory.
“Art tells the stories that history books often forget,” Hampton said. “For me, curating this exhibit was about honoring the struggles and triumphs of our people and giving visual life to the spirit of Juneteenth.”
Hampton, who traveled to Ghana with a group that set up outdoor health clinics for over 18 years, sees art and service as intertwined forms of community healing.
“Juneteenth is about remembrance, but also about vision — about remembering how we have changed, evolved and how we are growing and learning every day,” she said. “It’s an honor to be here and to help in remembering how we resist and rebuild across generations.”
Also present was a sense of global connection, as Dr. Hampton highlighted her community’s annual mission to Ghana.
“Each year we choose a different region, set up a clinic, and try to serve as many people as possible,” she said. “It’s our way of continuing the legacy of service beyond borders, we like to come here and openly narrate those stories too.”
The celebration included performances by local poets and a music set by Gabby Samone, an emerging pop-R&B artist from Baltimore.
At 3:45 p.m., the crowd swayed to the soulful rhythms of Brencore MOTOWN, a band from Washington, D.C.
One vendor, Yasoda Mensah, traveled from Port Royal to participate in the event. Her business, Trifolia, sells natural products made with herbs and offers “a connection to the values of restoration and education.”
“We’re here to support the whole idea of Juneteenth,” Mensah said. “This celebration is proof that the spirit is still strong. The ancestors are still with us, and events like this show that their fight, their presence and their power haven’t disappeared — they live on in us.”
Attendees danced to performances by Urban Fusion, Izuba, Natalia Velazquez and Home Planet before concluding the celebration.
“I’ve never felt a community moment quite like this,” Eric Ian Farmer, one of the performers, said. “Rain or shine, we showed up for each other — and that’s what Juneteenth is about.”
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