BOSTON (WHDH) - Hundreds of people gathered in Nubian Square Friday afternoon for a block party kicking off a weekend of festivities celebrating Juneteenth.
The event was sponsored by King Boston, an organization centered around racial equality.
“With this newest holiday, there was no better way for us to talk about the transformation of Boston, than for Boston to be the city where new habits, rituals, and customs around Juneteenth can originate,” said King Boston Executive Director Imari Paris Jeffries.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in 1865, it was officially declared a federal holiday by President Joe Biden last year.
The event was filled with live music, food trucks, and dancing. The block party celebrated black freedom and culture embracing various communities. According to Jeffries, the celebration creates spaces for people of color to feel welcomed.
“We know here in Roxbury, this is the hub of so much activism and history and the Black community and we want to honor all that we have left still to do in terms of history making that is continuing to happen in this very community, said Mayor Michelle Wu.
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