Inaugural Juneteenth Celebration in Mahwah

The Mahwah community will hold its first town-wide Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 19th at Commodore Perry Field in Mahwah, from 11-1pm. Mahwah recently passed the resolution to recognize Juneteenth and this year marks the first officially recognized Juneteenth holiday in the township. The celebration will include live music, refreshments, DJ entertainment, and inspirational remarks from local town officials, including the Mayor, James Wysocki, as well as faith leaders Rev. Lemuel Brown of the Mt. Bethel Baptist Church of Ridgewood, Rev. Kenneth Hyman of Mt. Zion AME church in Mahwah, and Rev. Steve Huston, Co-Leader/Resource Presbyter of the Presbytery of Northern New Jersey. In addition, students from the township and community members alike will lend their voice to celebrate the significance of the holiday.

According to Juneteenth.com, Juneteenth is considered the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday has renewed interest following a year of nationwide protests about racial injustice and is embraced, now more than ever, as a time when people of all races, nationalities, and religions gather to truthfully acknowledge a period in our history that has made a lasting impact on our society.

Says the event organizer and Mahwah mom, Odette Hirschinger, “Juneteenth has been a long ignored holiday outside of black communities and it’s important that all citizens recognize, acknowledge and celebrate the significance of this holiday. We have to remember the history of this county, the good and the bad, if not, we’re doomed to repeat it. As a resident of Mahwah, I’m elated to see my community for the first time celebrating with other communities of color.”

The origins of Juneteenth can be traced back to Galveston, Texas, where on June 19, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger informed the people of Texas that the Civil War had ended and that slaves were now free. Although President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in Confederate states came two and a half years earlier, it was ignored and it wasn’t until the end of the war that the Executive Order was enforced in the South.

The name “Juneteenth” is derived from a combination of “June” and “nineteenth” in honor of the date of Granger’s announcement and it first surfaced in 1903. Today, Juneteenth is celebrated with family reunions, barbeques, and red foods like red rice, and watermelon, and the traditional drink, Strawberry Soda, to commemorate the blood shed during slavery times.

Social distancing and mask wearing are encouraged per CDC guidelines.