West Chester’s annual Juneteenth Celebration returns for a third year this June with free live music, spoken word and arts and crafts.
Brenda Melson, manager of Transforming Families Ministries, started the event in 2024 after recognizing there was no established celebration of Juneteenth in West Chester. In past years, she had attended Juneteenth celebrations in other communities, including in Paris, Kentucky, where her second great-grandparents lived.
“That experience was incredibly meaningful and inspired me to bring a Juneteenth celebration to my own community,” she says.
Juneteenth marks the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans after the Civil War. It is commemorated on June 19, the day in 1865 when a Union general reached Galveston, Texas, to announce Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in Confederate states, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
“I want participants to leave with a clear understanding of when Juneteenth began, what it means, why it started, who was behind it and why we celebrate it today,” Brenda says.
The celebration will take place from 5-8 p.m. on June 13 at the Square at Union Centre. There, visitors will find two food trucks: one for Antliz Uptown Barbecue and another for the Peach Cobbler Factory. They can also listen to a band, Top This Band, perform on stage throughout the event. There will be time for trivia aimed to help educate the public about the holiday.
The event is intentionally family-friendly, with some free offerings specific to younger attendees. They’ll host a face painter and balloon twister, and are partnering with the MidPointe Library and Fitton Center for Creative Arts to provide a free craft relating to Juneteenth. This year, Brenda also says they received a grant from ArtsWave for the celebration.
“I want children in our community to grow up with that experience that they went to a Juneteenth Celebration, so [the tradition] continues through the generations,” she says. “If it’s something that they do as a child, then I hope they’ll come back as an adult.”
One of Brenda’s favorite parts of each year’s celebration is the speakers. This year, DeHeaven Simpkins, a Cincinnati pastor and artist, will speak about the history of Juneteenth. A spoken word artist, Kiyah Dean from the Arts Equity Collective and comedian Tamara Jackson-McClinon will also perform during the event.
“It’s open to the whole community,” she says. “We have a mixture of people, ages, races, so it’s just everybody coming out and celebrating, just like any other holiday that we celebrate.”
If families can’t make it to the June 13 celebration, Brenda says Transforming Families Ministries will host the Juneteenth Jubilee at Liberty Center a few days later. At that event, P. Ann Everson-Price and the All Star Band will perform. This event will also feature a dance team from the Bi-Okoto Cultural Center, a Cincinnati nonprofit cultural organization. There will also be a face painter and balloon twister for kids. This celebration runs from 6-9 p.m. on June 18.
Brenda says each year more people have attended the celebration and she hopes with the third running even more community members will come out.
“Juneteenth is for everybody, regardless of age,” she says. “There’s something there for everybody.”
“I want participants to leave with a clear understanding of when Juneteenth began, what it means, why it started, who was behind it and why we celebrate it today.” - Brenda Melson