Rain doesn’t dampen Juneteenth celebration in Franklin Park
Music played from speakers and the smoky smell of grilled chicken filled the air over the Shattuck Picnic Grove in Franklin Park Saturday as hundreds celebrated at the annual Juneteenth cookout — even in pouring rain.
Brian Alleyne, a Dorchester resident and chef manager at Wellesley High School, smiled while manning multiple grills with his brothers from the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.
“At the end of the day, when our ancestors had to work out in the fields whether it was rain, sleet, or snow, or whatever, they had to work, so we came out regardless of the rain, and we’re going to do the same work,” he said.
The cooked food was moved from the grill into large aluminum trays lined up on a couple of folding tables. People walked up and were handed plates heaping with barbecue chicken, along with macaroni and cheese, rice pilaf, and other sides.
“We make sure we have food because food brings us all together, and it makes sense to just give back to the families,” Alleyne said.
Alleyne estimated that he and his fraternity brothers served about 250 people, down from the 400 to 500 they’ve served in past years, likely due to the rain.
The event, also known as Roxbury Homecoming, has been held almost every year going back to the late 1990s, the only interruptions being due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vendors selling art, T-shirts, flags, and other items were lined up along walking paths. Other groups, including the Boston NAACP, Black fraternities and sororities, college groups, and job training programs, set up tents and shared information with people as they walked by.
Ebonie Wilkerson, of Dorchester, brought her two little girls to enjoy the festivities.
“I just want them to see Black people being successful,” Wilkerson said as her daughters, ages 6 and 7, ran and played in the wet grass nearby while rain fell.
“I want my kids to see that there are all of these Black people going to college and having fun,” she said.
Rahsaan Hall, a Brockton resident and former candidate for Plymouth district attorney who was recently named president and CEO of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, said the event was organized by the Urban League, the Boston NAACP, and the Greater Boston National Pan-Hellenic Council.
Hall said he is originally from Denver and grew up celebrating Juneteenth. When he moved to the Boston area in the 1990s, he saw hardly a trace of the holiday being
‘I want my kids to see that there are all of these Black people going to college and having fun.’
EBONIE WILKERSON, Dorchester mom who brought her children to the picnic
recognized.
“People in the west and the Midwest have always celebrated Juneteenth,” he said.
When he came to Massachusetts, “there were people who knew about it but there weren’t any coordinated activities, besides Roxbury Homecoming.”
Black Americans have been celebrating Juneteenth for generations to mark the end of slavery in the United States, but only in recent years has the holiday gained wider acknowledgment across the country.
The holiday was first celebrated in Texas in 1865, two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It became a holiday in Massachusetts in 2020, and President Joe Biden signed legislation passed by Congress in 2021 to make it a federal holiday.
The holiday has also been called Juneteenth Independence Day, Freedom Day, second Independence Day, and Emancipation Day.
Alleyne was born in Lynn but has lived in Boston for about 30 years. He said he grew up celebrating Juneteenth and is happy to see it being recognized more widely.
“It’s great for something that is so near and dear to our culture to be actually recognized,” Alleyne said. “We have Black History Month and we celebrate our holidays, but the fact that they’re acknowledging something that symbolizes our freedom and our independence, it’s great.”
Hall agreed, saying there is “value in the federal government affirming that there was this moment in history.”
“It’s important to have that footnote or that marker in time to say that we recognize that there was a part of our history that has this negative connotation, but the resiliency of these people transcends that moment,” he said.
“There’s always more that can be done, especially when we’re talking about some of the structural inequities that exist and the deep racial disparities,” he said. “Using this holiday as an opportunity to raise awareness about the issues is always a good thing.”