Saturday, June 20, 2009

Very Rainy Juneteenth



We get told endlessly by the geniuses with Doppler radar that we're just about at the end of this endless cycle of rain, but it didn't stop in time for the start of Juneteenth. Above, Rose Harris Lytle, president of Colorado Springs NAACP, introduced Max Hale of Pastors for Peace. Below, 13-year-old Aarun Anderson gives us a history of the declaration of Juneteenth in Texas.



This was a young Juneteenth. Two more 13-year-olds were the backbone of the blues band that played all day long, Young Austin and No Difference:



Also, plenty of middle-school and high-school dancers in David's Generation:



Follow the link here to hear Blair Smith sing Beyonce's "Listen." And there were a few old folks with some talent, such as the gospel group Rev. Dennis Mose pulled together for the afternoon.

I made sure to pull off a quick interview with Brianna Frenchmore, who won the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission's Peace Scholarship in 2009 for her work with PeaceJam:



The sun had almost come out by the time I started interviewing Brianna, and the Doppler-gangers swear to us that a sunny and warm trend will begin on Father's Day. Really. Seriously.

1 comment:

Ruth said...

I don't know how it happened, but I only learned about Juneteenth this year. Believe me, I'm glad to know. It looks like it was a fun, if wet, celebration involving all kinds of folk in your community.