City, county plan celebrations for Juneteenth, Black business owners

Starting June 1 and through June 15, Tompkins County will host a variety of events focused around celebrating Juneteenth, a federal holiday held June 19 commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. As those involved describe, the event series serves to honor the contributions of Black county residents, both today and in history.

Juneteenth-related events began June 1, when the City of Ithaca Common Council read a proclamation regarding the holiday’s importance. A similar presentation followed at the Tompkins County Legislature on June 7. There are still two large events in this series that readers can look forward to — a presentation by author Annette Gordon-Reed and the Black-Owned Business Expo.

Gordon-Reed, Ph.D., is the author of “On Juneteenth,” a book that centers around the history of Juneteenth, especially in Texas, where the holiday started and Gordon-Reed lives. The talk is being organized by the Tompkins County Office of Human Rights in partnership with the City of Ithaca. The event will be viewable on the county’s YouTube channel after streaming June 13 at 4:15 p.m. at youtube.com/watch?v=_bVeu579G0o.

The Black-Owned Business Expo will be held June 15 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tompkins Center for History and Culture on the Ithaca Commons. A wide variety of Black-owned businesses from around the area will be there to showcase their craft; some will also provide food for purchase. The event is being organized by Business Leaders of Colors, founded by Gladys Brangman.

The organizers behind these events spoke of the importance of the event series as well as proper recognition of Juneteenth. Brangman, for example, said that she’s wanted to hold some kind of expo through Business Leaders of Colors for a long time, so when the county reached out this year with the expo idea, she jumped at the chance.

“The importance of the event itself is to let people know that there are some solid Black-owned businesses in the community, and many of them are businesses that, for whatever reason, have been flying under the radar,” she said. “I’m viewing this as Black progress. These are successful business owners. … Who doesn’t need more business? Who doesn’t want more money? So, the more people who know about you, the more they can promote you and the more, of course, money that you’re going to make and actually work your passion as opposed to working for someone else.”

One of the expo’s participants is Butler & Burt Cleaning Services LLC, and owner Shonntay Butler agreed with Brangman on the importance of exposure.

“For us, as Black people, mainly us as Black women, I feel like a lot of our talents are hidden behind our strong Black men, but us as Black women, we’re strong, and we can rise to the occasion as well,” she said. “So, I feel like this is a perfect opportunity for all young females who are Black, any type of ethnicities, to know that us as women can do it as well.”

Via Carpenter, owner of Via’s Cookies (see tinyurl.com/23bwhtcm), will also be attending the expo and said she’s looking forward to the networking opportunities.

“Honestly, probably just meeting other Black-owned businesses and making really good connections,” she said. “And so, those connections that we form are really important for the future moving forward and making collaborations happen. And I want to do a lot of collaborations, especially with Black-owned businesses.”

Butler added that there will be a great spread of businesses involved for folks to check out.

“I feel like it’s going to be a mixture, very diverse,” she said. “People are going to be able to actually see everybody for who they really are. And that’s what I love about it.”

Brangman also reached out to Millicent Clarke-Maynard, CEO and educator at Teacher On The Go Consulting Group LLC. While Clarke-Maynard won’t be able to attend, she said she’s very glad the event is being held for Ithacans.

“They’re going to find a unique, different array goods and services that you probably would not think out of the box on,” she said. “And I think that that’s very important, from catering to photography, to clothing lines, to herbs that you would not find … in these big box stores. … And then you wouldn’t even find it in a small city, like Ithaca. You would mostly think of it as being in Buffalo or Rochester, Syracuse or New York City.”

As for the lecture, Kenneth Clarke, director of the Tompkins County Office of Human Rights, is the lead organizer and said he was glad to be able to bring on Gordon-Reed.

“She looks at the holiday in terms of its historic importance as the day in which General Gordon Granger announced that slavery had ended,” he said. “She also looks at the way in which historically Black people in Texas in particular celebrated that holiday from its inception, and she also looks at the personal lens of having grown up in Texas.”

Clarke also remarked on the Juneteenth event series as a whole, saying he’s glad that the holiday has received more widespread recognition locally in recent years.

“Juneteenth, it’s significant in terms of what it reflects, in terms of the reality, the reality of ongoing struggle against injustice and inequity and how it is part of a larger continuum,” he said. “And yet, it is out of that struggle that we have sought to create and to demand and to insist upon a greater sense of community, in terms of the dignity and worth of all human beings and Black persons of African descent in particular. And … our work is not yet done, yet at the same time, we also pause to remember and to celebrate what has been accomplished for the good.”

Brangman shared that sentiment.

“For me, I was surprised at the number of people who weren’t aware of the celebration,” she said. “And every African-American community has some sort of celebration. It could be a group of people just getting together in this church parking lot every year, and they’ve got food and goods and music and dancing and whatever it happens to be, but it’s just a celebration. And so, I love it. I absolutely love it and [am] grateful that the county is now acknowledging it and Cornell University is now acknowledging it. We get a day off from work!”

Carpenter said that she’s also glad to see the increased awareness, especially because, as a mixed-race individual, she went much of her life unaware of the holiday.

“I didn’t know we had a holiday to celebrate us because I’ve never been able to celebrate myself and my skin and who I was as a person,” she said. “And so, coming to Ithaca, I really, really came into my Blackness and feeling beautiful as a Black woman in America and acknowledging, yes, although I am mixed, through the eyes of the public, I am Black. … I really want to celebrate my Blackness and who I am and the Black people around me in the community.”

Brangman added that she’s glad that the events are spread out, rather than only on Juneteenth.

“The county is actually using this as a way to educate the community also and really tell a story and tell the story of African Americans and the significance of this holiday,” she said. “So, to us, it’s huge. To others, it’s like, ‘Oh, well, OK, yeah, sure, day off from work, I’m all about that.’ But, personally, I’m grateful to see that it’s being acknowledged and it’s treated as something that is so much a part of this country. And so, I appreciate that.”

While the increased awareness is appreciated by all sources interviewed, several acknowledged that there is still significant progress that needs to be made. Clarke, for example, said he’s hoping this year’s event series leads to greater change in the future.

“My hope is that this ongoing awareness and visibility will translate into actions in which we as a community will engage in to advance the causes of justice, to stand up against bigotry in its multifaceted forms, in particular, to address the particular challenges and struggles that people of African descent face in this country, which is part of a larger set of public actions and conversations,” he said.

Carpenter said that next year, she’d love to see more events that incorporate elements of both Pride Month and Juneteenth.

“Ithaca Fest is literally during Pride Month, and it’s a few weeks from Juneteenth,” she said. “So, if we can incorporate something in the events that we’re already doing, acknowledging these holidays and building up our Black community, that would be awesome. … We could almost have a reparations kind of event, where it’s just like, ‘OK, we’re seeing all that we can do for the Black businesses in Ithaca.’”

Clarke-Maynard also spoke of the need for increased visibility, including acknowledgment and celebration not centered around a particular holiday.

“For me, the holidays — particularly Black History [Month], Juneteenth — are something that should be commemorated on a daily basis,” she said. “We tend to focus on a one-day, one-week kind of celebration. And so, to me, that’s very troubling. In effect, I think that the information, the attitudes about Juneteenth, about Kwanzaa, about Black History Month should be mentioned 365 days of the year, and we should set an example for our young people. And that’s what I’m all about, committing impact and knowledgeable information every day for our young people and our families.”

To learn more about Business Leaders of Colors, visit businessleadersofcolors.com. For more information about the Office of Human Rights, visit tompkinscountyny.gov/humanrights.

Jessica Wickham is the managing editor of Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to them at editorial@VizellaMedia.com.