![]() Public Health will be helping people sign up for health insurance, find out their eligibility for discounted Orca cards, and enroll people in food programs. “In public health, the one thing that we want to do is eliminate health disparities, make sure the Black community has access to health care, and really let them know the services that we provide.” ![]() “It’s a really great way to especially reach out to the Black community,” Pie said. One of the main vendors and sponsors of the celebration will be King County Public Health.ĭaphne Pie, the regional health services administrator for King County Public Health, stressed that Public Health’s main goal in taking part in the festival is to introduce attendees to the many resources available to them. The event is also unique in that it will offer access to a wide range of resources, from health care to job opportunities. The Washington Diamonds Drill Team & Drumline will be performing, and there will also be a Twerkshop with Tricia Diamond. And Nikkita Oliver, a Seattle City Council candidate, and Elmer Dixon, one of the founders of the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party, will speak. (Photo: Susan Fried)ĭJ Remi, Logic Amen, and DJ MIXX America will all perform at the event. “That was one of the things that she would, before she passed away, for Juneteenth.”Īnn Okwuwolu and her daughter at Jefferson Park in Seattle, WA. Okwuwolu also says the event offers an opportunity to keep ancestral and historic food alive, like a recipe her grandmother never wrote down for tea cakes. “Even the colors of the food, red being a very significant color, for the blood and the sacrifice of people and their ancestors and the people who fought in the war and the bloodshed that was shed during slavery on the plantations, that’s really important.” “Food was really important on Juneteenth,” Okwuwolu said. The food will be made by Okwuwolu’s mother, Alice’s, business - Yabella Cupcakes Eats and Treats - and a wide range of caterers, such as The Comfort Zone Kitchen and Vegan Spirit Food. The event will also feature music, food, and vendors. She feels that her incorporation of education and teaching the history of the holiday will help to set the Othello Park event apart. “There’s a lot of Juneteenth events and there’s going to be even more Juneteenth events,” Okwuwolu said. Through speeches, attendees will be able to hear stories of their ancestors and the significance the holiday has on the community. She has incorporated opportunities to learn more about the holiday and the significance it holds for Black Americans while offering an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate. Okwuwolu saw an opportunity to share the real story of Juneteenth through her festival. ![]() And if you’re a storyteller, you hold the power, and you can tell people who they are and what they should be worth and what they should accept, you tell them where they came from,” Okwuwolu, now the creative director of It Takes A Village - AMSA Edition, said. “White Americans want to tell you the story. In her initial organizing, she soon began to see how little people knew about the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. She decided to take the issue into her own hands and start an event to celebrate Juneteenth. And so we didn’t have any visibility,” Okwuwolu said. “Everything was geared towards other people. to 6 p.m.Īnn Okwuwolu, the creator of the festival, is a former medical technician who was inspired to start the celebration in 2016 when she recognized the lack of Black representation in New Holly Community events. It Takes A Village - AMSA Edition, a local nonprofit, will host its fifth annual in-person Juneteenth Celebration on Saturday, June 19, at Othello Park from 11 a.m.
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