From Leimert Park’s annual celebration to Segerstrom’s first year of festivities, commemorations of Juneteenth will feature Black art across the region.
But for many Black Angelenos, Juneteenth has long been a reason to celebrate, to remember. Maybe they grew up with red punch, barbecue and an understanding of the significance of June 19, which commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people of Texas finally learned that slavery had been abolished and that they were free. Perhaps their families carried the traditions with them as they migrated north and west from Galveston, Texas, where the holiday originated, and the surrounding states.