Second Annual Juneteenth Event At Nowell Park Well Attended

JOLIET, IL — The second annual Juneteenth event in Joliet featured more than 50 vendors, live music and donated food. More than 300 people attended. The event began at 1 p.m. and went through to dusk at Nowell Park.

“Juneteenth is giving back to the community,” Chelsea Graves said about the event.

Chelsea Graves is the owner/operator of U. C. Me Expressions and Keys 2 The City. The event is organized by Chelsea Graves, Tycee Bell, Venus Jones and Tony Graves.

“We had a lot of people who wanted to see more awareness of Juneteenth,” Bell said.

Juneteenth is “a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings," Juneteenth.com states.

Juneteenth is held on June 19 to commemorate the date in 1865 when Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the Civil War had ended, and all slaves were free. Many of the slaves in Texas had not known of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which had actually given them freedom more than two years earlier.

Today, Juneteenth is a time to gather and remember the history of slavery, racism and the steps toward freedom in America.

This year, the Juneteenth event had activities on Saturday at Nowell Park and a car show from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, June 20 at Longshots Sports Bar & Grill, 1609 W. Jefferson Ave.

At around 5 p.m., Saturday, organizers Chelsea Graves, Jones and Bell went out into the parking lot at Nowell Park and released balloons to honor the ancestors and those who had gone before.

Attendees had a chance to place names of loved ones they wanted to honor in a box before the balloon release.

When the balloon release was happening, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble played a song dedicated to the late Taijite Kelan EL, sung by her mother, Marcella (Aquilla) Graves.

“We want to make sure that Joliet is aware of the equality and injustices that we are still fighting for.” Bell said.

Jones is on board to help organize for years to come.

“We’ve been through a lot as a people, and we are still going through a lot as a people,” she said.

Her uncle, Dave Evans, always participated in the Black Pride Parade, and she always wanted to pick up the mantle.

All the vendors at this year's events were black-owned businesses, and Chelsea Graves said she gives back by creating a fee-free opportunity for the small businesses to sell at the event.

All the food for the event, which included 300 hot dogs and buns, was donated and given free to attendees. The event featured a number of local DJs and live music.

Next year, Juneteenth falls on a Sunday and Chelsea Graves hopes the event will be expanded over more days with opportunities for more showcasing of businesses, arts and celebration of the black community.

Editor's Note: a relationship title has been corrected in this post.