Hundreds gathered at Ellsworth’s Knowlton Park Thursday to observe “Juneteenth Downeast” with family activities, booths from local nonprofits, free food and wellness offerings.
It was one of many events across Maine, from York to Ellsworth, to observe Juneteenth, the date marking the end of slavery in the United States.
On June 19, 1865, a Union general rode into Galveston, Texas, and announced a federal order freeing all people in the state, two years after the official end of slavery in the country. It’s been a federal holiday since 2021.
Attendees at the Ellsworth event said they felt the event is more important than ever under the administration of President Donald Trump, highlighting concerns from immigration raids to federal actions that they say reach outside the president’s constitutional authority.
“Now that we have this, we need to make sure we keep it,” Michael Ellison of Amherst said of the holiday.
He attended the event with his family to show support for the community, especially in the current political climate, he said. He was a child when Martin Luther King Jr. Day became a federal holiday and doesn’t want to see Juneteenth ended under this administration.
These holidays are important because they recognize what happened in the past, he said. Seeing the turnout at Thursday’s event was encouraging and showed the day’s significance, according to Ellison. Though he said there is inequality everywhere, he appreciates living in Maine because people tend to be neighborly.
His son, also named Michael Ellison, said it was nice to see a community of people coming together.
Organizer Jacques Newell Taylor highlighted that the event commemorates past inequality, and said that under the Trump administration more people are feeling the urgency for survival that’s familiar to people of color.
“The truth is, this is an American holiday, and it should absolutely be celebrated and talked about,” he said.
The event’s themes vary each year; this one centered around “taking care of ourselves so we can take care of each other,” with free massages, tai chi, yoga and food. It also included children’s activities, local nonprofit booths, speakers, a DJ and a blessing from Nigerian chief Oscar Mokeme, who runs the Museum of African Culture in Portland.
Nancy Corwin and Ricky Robinson, friends from Ellsworth who moved to the city from New Mexico three years ago, said they attended the event because they believe Maine is too white.
Coming to the state was a culture shock, they said, and they support local diversity events whenever they can. To Corwin and Robinson, more diversity is good for kids in school, the overall energy and the quality of food, which they criticized in Maine.
“Everything is more interesting when you have diversity,” Corwin said.
Juneteenth celebrations were also held Thursday in Biddeford, Freeport, Lewiston, Nobleboro, Scarborough, Westbrook and York.
