Columbia community members feel weight of political tension heading into Juneteenth celebrations
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Several Columbia community members on Wednesday gathered at Rose Music Hall in Columbia, soaking in the time to celebrate, before rain brought the celebration to an early end.
"It's just very important for us to recognize how much people have to go through for us to be free and give people in our community of space to come together," Charlee'ette Glover, lead program assistant of Moving Ahead, said.
The event was one of the many celebrations that will be held this week throughout Columbia for Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. The City of Columbia awarded funds to 12 events this year.
The city was awarded $29,800 in grant funding from the Missouri Arts Council.
While the event aims to serve as a celebration, some say recent political tensions-- including President Donald Trump's efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have crossed their mind.
"I can see how it makes some people feel unsafe," Glover said. "But I think in the midst of that, this event is just a really good example of the fact that people do prevail, that when we come together as a community, we can stand against these sorts of things."
James Gray also helped organize a Juneteenth celebration and luncheon that will take place at Douglass Park Thursday morning. He's also a part of the Juneteenth parade scheduled for Saturday morning in Downtown Columbia.
Gray said both political tensions and Sunday's shooting that left an 18-year-old dead may have some in the community feeling uneasy heading into celebrations. However, Gray said that makes celebrations more important than ever.
"It's time that we stop talking and it's time that we put out and do something," Gray said. "That's why it's important that we come together. That's why it's important that we speak the same language."
Gray said police will be at both events and members of the group have been trained to watch for suspicious behavior. The Columbia Police Department told ABC 17 News it plans to have normal patrols on Thursday and over the weekend.
A full list of Juneteenth events can be found here.
