Beautiful, sunny weather gave a perfect setting for multiple Juneteenth celebrations in the south suburbs over the weekend.
Homewood-Flossmoor kicked off its weekend celebration with a Saturday morning parade from Flossmoor Road and Sterling Avenue to Parker Junior High School, with more than 200 spectators and 400 parade participants. Organizer Destiny Watson said the day was all about spreading community awareness.
“People are still learning what Juneteenth is,” Watson said. “This was all to increase visibility and for people to experience the festival.”
In Robbins, an all-day festival that went well into the evening brought hundreds to the park district at 13800 S. Trumbull. The festival started at 2 p.m, but by 4 p.m. the main parking lot was already full and people were parking along side streets. Dozens of vendor tents were set up from businesses, nonprofit organization and restaurants.
Nate Ward, treasurer for Robbins Friends of the Park, which sponsored this year’s Juneteenth celebration, said it was great seeing so many people return after two years of COVID-19. While the event happened in 2021, Ward said many still opted to stay home and those who did attend were careful about social distancing.
But this year, things were back to normal.
“This event just seems to get bigger and bigger each year,” Ward said. “This is also a kickoff for a safe summer and gives our youth an opportunity to connect with their fellow neighbors.
He said the increase in awarness for Juneteenth nationwide and it being made a federal holiday last year was a step in the right direction.
“It’s a recognition of what African Amercians have done and are still doing for this country,” Ward said.
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Shirley Clemons-White, of Robbins, was at the Robbins festival with her children and grandchildren, beaming with a smile, dancing and laughing. She said there is still a great need to grow awareness for Junetneeth, not just for the Black community but for children of mixed races who should always know their heritage.
“They all need to know where they came from and that it’s time to move on and forget and just love one another,” Clemons-White said. “I’m so glad this is now a national holiday. So many people were just uninformed. Now we are celebrating with generations of families to come.”
Her daughter, Monike Van Dyke, a Robbins native who now lives in Crestwood, said the day’s festivities are also in celebration of the village of Robbins, which marks its 105th year in 2022.
“This village has been part of families for generations,” Van Dyke said. “We have a new mayor and now a new deputy police chief. Great things are happening. And for Juneteenth being national now, we are all just embracing one another.”
Nicole Burden, of Robbins, said the day was also about celebrating the community in which she grew up.
“Seeing this (crowd) and all the culture of it,” Burden said, “and being around everyone we grew up with. I love seeing this be able to come to fruition. It’s a wonderful atmosphere. And now for my 11-year-old son to see Juneteenth become a national holiday, it’s amazing.”
Hannah Kohut is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.