Kian Ahmadi photo
Drummers Michael Mills and bandmates Brian Jarawa Gray and Paul McGuire on Saturday.
One hundred and fifty eight years ago today, Joseph Sills of the 29th Connecticut Colored Infantry Regiment watched as Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed all enslaved African Americans free in Galveston, Tex.
On Saturday, Sills’s direct descendent, Kelly Mero, helped honor her ancestor and the historic episode of Black freedom he participated in through a Juneteenth celebration she organized in the Dixwell neighborhood.
Mero, an education consultant for the state Department of Education, has been organizing these local celebrations for eight years in honor of the newly recognized federal holiday of Juneteenth. The holiday commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Tex. found out that they were free, two months after the end of the Civil War and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The fate of Mero’s planned Juneteenth event in New Haven for this year was in doubt just a few days prior when forecasts of heavy rain caused her to have to find a new indoor venue within days. Determined to keep the event alive, Mero and her partners petitioned to use the Wexler-Grant public elementary school building at 55 Foote St., and succeeded.
Saturday’s celebration began at noon as booths lined the hallways, including a total of 94 local businesses, nonprofits, and local schools. The event was free to attend for the community. Mero also didn’t charge the businesses and organizations who came in.
“We do bring a party, but we also bring agencies and organizations focused on advancing access to healthcare, education, and employment for our people,” she said on Saturday.
One such organization in attendance at Wexler-Grant was The Kiyama Movement, which helped fund the event, along with the Walter E. Luckett Foundation and Yale University Public Safety.
The Kiyama Movement mentors, who were present on Saturday, work to support Black youth in New Haven with education and vocational opportunities. Nearby them, a local business called Ancient African Formula sold shea butter, and African jewelry and clothing.
Ancient African Formula's Deborah Thomas, Pamela Lyles, and Cheryl Alston.
Cheryl Alston, who worked the Ancient African Formula group’s table, said the organization’s founder and owner Aminata Dukuray was in Gambia, where she plans to break ground on a school for girls this year.
All afternoon the Wexler-Grant building bustled with people moving through the hallways from one table to the other. When the DJ stopped the music to announce the band Rhythms From the Heart: Healing Drums, a crowd gathered around them to watch. Drumbeats resonated through the halls and drummer Michael Mills exclaimed: “Celebrate living; love. Juneteenth. One people, many cultures. Peace!”
More performances followed, captivating the room, featuring singers and dancers celebrating Black culture.
Tommie Cook III, aka Michael Jackson, drew a crowd with his dance moves.
Later on Saturday afternoon, the sun came out and families brought their children outside to enjoy a lunch from the Lucky Starbus Cafe. The celebration provided a fun time for children and adults, and a day to remember freedom from slavery.
To organizer Kelly Mero, “We still live in a world where freedom is denied.” She told of her three Black sons, one of whom was stopped by police on his way home at just eight years old. She said that it’s remarkable and validating to know that Juneteenth is a federal holiday because it means “folks are paying attention.”
Students from Metropolitan Business Academy, who worked as volunteers at Saturday's event.
Congratulations and thank you to Kelly Mero for organizing this Juneteenth celebration. May there be many more such celebrations sharing history, culture, positive activities, local businesses, charitable organizations, and more as the holiday goes forward, now that it is a federally recognized holiday.