Jun 15, 2021 / 06:17 PM EST
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Saturday’s
Biketeenth bicycle ride was set up as a health initiative that aims to unify Hoosiers and commemorate
Cassie Smith-Johnson and Antwan Mack are the co-founders.
Smith-Johnson said Tuesday, “Our young men and women are obese … heart failure, kidney issues. You’ll see dialysis centers popping up everywhere right now, especially in the Black community. So, we just really want to push health on our community … you know, white, Black, everyone right now.”
Observed on June 19,
Juneteenth marks the emancipation or freedom of the last African-American slaves in the United States on Jan. 1, 1863. But, that message didn’t reach enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, until June 19, 1865.