Community members gathered Saturday at the Hillside Community Center in celebration of what has become known as Juneteenth, the day slavery officially ended in America.
The event, briefly interrupted by heavy rain, featured local music and poetry, dancing, karaoke and free food. Organizers hoped to draw about 700 visitors by the end of the day.
The unofficial holiday marks the belated emancipation of Texas slaves in June 1865, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation outlawed slavery. Union soldiers marched into Texas and freed the last of the slaves on June 19, 1865, said Sharon Witherspoon, a Duluth Juneteenth coordinator and secretary for the Duluth Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of ColoredPeople.
"Juneteenth was an opportunity to celebrate freedom and inclusion," said Xavier Bell, of Community Action Duluth. "That's the focus that we're trying to take. Be a unified community that crosses cultural barriers, socioeconomic barriers and really challenge Duluthians to be a part of the broad community of Duluth and not necessarily a neighborhood."
Although Juneteenth is celebrated across the country, it is only an official holiday in about half of the states. Minnesota has not legally declared Juneteenth a holiday.
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"We will be taking the lead to see that this becomes a legal holiday," Witherspoon said. "It would be good recognition that this is a holiday for a large population of people. ... When you come together and learn about other people, that's always a good thing."
