#Juneteenth2018 Was a Night of Celebrating Blackness
Last Wednesday, over 5,000 people came out to join us at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in celebration of Juneteenth. Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the day, June 19th, that the last slaves in the USA were told they were free. Some people believe Juneteenth happened, others believe the story is pure myth. Whatever its true origin, Juneteenth has become a cultural masthead for Black American culture, a reason to celebrate Black people and all of our progress. We were beyond ecstatic to share this celebration with so many of the people in Boston.
Boston based visual artist Chanel Thervil was the first one to kick of the Juneteenth event with her work displayed in the Shapiro Courtyard. Her striking, multi-media pieces quickly captured attendees interest, who listened as Chanel spoke about her history, present and future in the art field.
Valerie Stephens, one of Boston’s long standing artists and musicians, opened up Juneteenth in the Shapiro Courtyard with a series of songs and call back poems. Her deep voice swept throughout the crowd, pulling people in closer.
TCP’s Strategic Director and the creator of Juneteenth at the MFA, Malia Lazu, then took the stage to speak about the importance of Juneteenth, regardless of its origin, and how Juneteenth at the MFA has grown since it first began, 6 years ago. Our keynote speaker Ayanna Pressley spoke next, on Boston and the necessity of preserving and perpetuating Black culture.
The Front Porch Arts Collective, a MA based group that creates a place where perspectives and experiences of Black and Brown people are no longer novelty, had a revealing performance, centered around a chess board. Lovely Hoffman kicked off their set with her amazing voice. After the Front Porch Art Collective’s performance, a youth dance trope closed out Juneteenth’s opening remarks.
In the 6 years we’ve been programming Juneteenth, first as Epicenter Community and now as Transformative Culture Project, the Juneteenth Celebration has grown to encapsulate the entire museum! After our opening, the rest of the museum opened up for the myriad of programs we had planned for the evening.
Our City Talks Panel, featuring artist Cagen Luse, designer Joelle Fontaine of I Am Kreyol, and activist/ artist JD Stokely, focused on the importance of intersectional blackness. Some themes touched upon were the Black Queer and Trans experience and how often those narratives are left out of Black culture.
Outside in the Courtyard, we had yoga and body restorative movement led by Michelle Mendes and Yoruba centered healing and wellness with Arira Adeke of Seed of Osun. QTPOC Artist Anjimile set the scene for the yoga and Yoruba healing with their beautiful, folk rock music set that spanned the rest of the evening.
The Open Mic, hosted by organizer and poet Amanda Shea, featured a multitude of Boston’s talented poets and musicians and kicked off at 8:30pm. The room remained packed and filled to the brim until Juneteenth ended at 10pm. Featured performers included Ny As F*ck, Anson Raps, Theresa Sophia and many, many more!
Did we mention we had music and a screening of Black Panther outside? DJ Troy Frost kept the music grooving out on the lawn, setting the mood before Black Panther came on at 8:30pm. The movie alone drew out an extra 500 folks!
Wakanda Forever!
Besides the programming mentioned, we had much more going on the night of Juneteenth, including guided tours of the museum and community art and kid projects led by Chanel Thervil.
Last year we had 4,000 people and this year 5,000! We’re hoping that in 2019, for our 7th year of organizing Juneteenth, we can increase those numbers and simultaneously reach more and more of the thriving Black community here in Boston and MA.
A special thank you to our Community Partners
- Grubstreet
- Kickback Boston
- Sydney Janey Design
- MALC
- Dudley Café
- Boston Paper Works
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