Loudoun Residents Celebrate Juneteenth With Vows To Keep Marching

LEESBURG, VA — Two days after Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday, a marching funk band helped about 200 people celebrate the holiday Saturday morning in downtown Leesburg.

Starting at the Loudoun County Courthouse on King Street, the crowd marched a few blocks, with the Crush Funk Brass band members playing music and Loudoun County residents chanting.

The Freedom Center, in partnership with the NAACP Loudoun branch, sponsored the event. A year before Juneteenth became a federal holiday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam signed an executive order in June 2020 making Juneteenth a permanent paid state holiday in Virginia.

In January 2021, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors added Juneteenth as a paid county holiday to its calendar. And then on Thursday, President Joe Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, the first new national holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

On Saturday, when the march reached the W&OD Trail off Harrison Street, the Juneteenth celebration took on a more somber tone.

The organizers picked the Orion Anderson Lynching Memorial in Raflo Park as the terminus of the march. It served as a reminder of the horrors that followed in Loudoun County and the rest of Virginia in the decades after the last enslaved African Americans — in Galveston, Texas — were told they were free on June 19, 1865.

In the summer of 2019, a historical marker was dedicated marking the place where Anderson, a 14-year-old Black boy, was lynched by a group of white men on Nov. 8, 1889.

At the rally portion of the event, speakers admitted many people had never heard of Juneteenth before a year ago. But in the racial reckoning that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the movement to make Juneteenth an official holiday gained momentum.

"Think about a year ago at this time, many of us didn't know what Juneteenth even was," Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Buta Biberaj said at the rally.

Juneteenth now serves as an opportunity for residents of Loudoun to understand the county's history, Biberaj said.

"As we remember our history, we also need to remember our fierce obligation to continue the work and the legacies and today's theme is 'Reclaiming the Promise of Freedom,'" Ron Campbell, executive director of the Loudoun Freedom Center, an official with the Loudoun NAACP and former Leesburg town councilman, said at the rally. "While that promise may be in some small measures unfulfilled, the largest part of what has to be done is in your hands."

U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-10th) noted that the bill to make Juneteenth a national holiday passed the House of Representatives and Senate with wide bipartisan support.

"For years, advocates fought to make Juneteenth a day for all Americans to reflect and learn. It took far too long to make this a reality, but we are taking steps to embrace our painful moments, from Juneteenth to Tulsa and other race massacres and even our history here in Loudoun," she said.

Wexton told the crowd that there are some residents of Northern Virginia who are opposed to teaching real American history, referring to groups that have accused Loudoun County Public Schools of adopting the principles of critical race theory. "They will lie about what is being taught to our children because they are uncomfortable facing our nation's most painful moments," she said.

The Democratic lawmaker also pointed to efforts across the country to create obstacles to "full participation in our democracy through efforts to suppress the vote, especially in communities of color."

"So our work is not done, and the march continues," Wexton said. "That's why these efforts are so important. Confronting the truth about our history is the first step towards recover, reconciliation and true equality."

RELATED: What Is Juneteenth? 5 Things To Know About The Holiday That Marks The End Of Slavery