Organizer Jamie Boston invites community to Kensington Juneteenth celebration

Jamie Boston, founder of the Kensington Juneteenth celebration, urged residents to attend the neighborhood ceremony and said the observance will teach the history behind Juneteenth while welcoming people of all backgrounds.

Boston said Juneteenth marks the day Union troops under Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that enslaved people in the state were free after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued two years earlier. He said the event is intended to fill gaps in local knowledge about the holiday and to help families, including his own, learn and reflect.

"It's about coming together and moving forward," Boston said, describing a program that he said will include opportunities to learn about local, state and national history. He invited clergy from different faiths to take part in a spiritual portion of the ceremony and described the celebration as "a welcoming event" for "family, friends, black, white, gay, straight."

Boston said the celebration was inspired personally: "My name is Jamie Boston and I'm the founder of the annual Kensington Juneteenth celebration," and he added that, as a father, he felt it was important to teach his daughters about the holiday's meaning.

The announcement did not specify a date, time or funding sources for the event. Boston encouraged the public to attend to learn more about the local history that the celebration will highlight.