The Roundup: Does Juneteenth Still Belong to Black People?
From the Editor
What's up, South End?
I'm delivering the newsletter a day early because it's a special time in Seattle: Today is Juneteenth, and Seattle is the host city of Team USA's World Cup match versus Australia.
Needless to say, the city is buzzing.
But, in all honesty, I feel a little conflicted. Let me explain.
I'm the son of a Texan. My mom's family goes back generations in Texas — in fact, I'm a few generations removed from my family members working as sharecroppers on the plantation we had been enslaved on.
So Juneteenth is a big deal for me. For many years, Black folks like myself would celebrate Juneteenth with our families. It was common practice for the adults to call out from work and the kids to be pulled from school, and Black families would have barbecues, fish frys, cookouts, or gatherings to celebrate our freedom.
And you know who I never saw on Juneteenth growing up? White folks.
I don't mean disrespect, and I know those of y'all reading this mean well. My point here is to say Juneteenth was ours. I've had conversations with plenty of white people in my adult life who had no idea what the holiday was.
Then, post-pandemic — or should I say post-George Floyd — someone got the idea that Juneteenth should be a national holiday.
I still remember the first years of Juneteenth being an "official" holiday. Walmart, of all stores, rolled out Juneteenth-branded picnic merch. Democrats were taking photos, kneeling, fists in the air, wearing Kente cloths (maybe that was related to something else, but you get the point).
Our holiday had been commercialized.
I never wanted Juneteenth to belong to everyone. Yes, I love a paid day off of work, but I miss the days when it was about family and we reflected among ourselves. This year, we're sharing the holiday with a soccer match, and I really can't wrap my head around that idea.
How did the holiday commemorating our freedom become packaged and attached to corporate sporting events with obscene ticket prices? The simple answer: It's the American way.
I wanted to dive a little deeper into these ideas, so I reached out to someone who's involved with the Juneteenth World Cup planning. Emerald founder and columnist Marcus Harrison Green was a subcommittee member of SeattleFWC26, the local FIFA organizing group that advised on FIFA Juneteenth planning. (If you attend the game, you'll see him on the big screen at halftime for a presentation about the holiday.)
We chatted after the SeattleFWC26 media event about the Juneteenth game, how the holiday intersects with the World Cup, and, of course, where people can head for traditional Juneteenth events.
This has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
MD: What's your involvement with this group, and what was the Juneteenth World Cup media event all about?
MHG: Seattle FWC26 was the group tasked with planning the events and festivities around the World Cup coming to Seattle. They have multiple subgroups, and one of them was the Juneteenth committee, because out of all of the host cities in the United States, Seattle was fortunate enough to get the matchup with the U.S. men's national team against Australia on the actual holiday.
This will be the first time ever that the U.S. men's national team is going to be playing a World Cup match in Seattle, and they wanted to make sure that Juneteenth, and the Black community here in Seattle, was not an afterthought. So, they asked community members from various industries to volunteer time to give suggestions in an advisory role.
MD: You know my family history, with our roots in Texas. Juneteenth literally started there, so this holiday means a lot to me. It feels a little strange watching it be commercialized and people finding ways to profit from it. How do you feel about this, being on the committee?
MHG: That's a good question. I would say, we live in America, right? Everything is commodified, whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other holiday. It would be wishful thinking to expect anything different with Juneteenth.
I remember a few years ago, when they were first discussing making it a national holiday, and I interviewed a Black cultural historian. She talked about how one of the things she felt would happen with Juneteenth was that it would ultimately be commercialized and get to the point where we would be doing nothing but performative things, like asking people to shop at Black businesses.
And I don't want to come across as anti-support-Black-business, but today when I was at the media event for Juneteenth, you know, I called it an unfinished holiday, and the reason that it's so different from other holidays in the United States is that it's meant to spark conversation.
Particularly with the point you make about it originating in Texas, then expanding — there are still so many people who don't know what it's about. Other holidays need no explanation, but with Juneteenth, I think it provokes discussion because it has to. Especially during a time in our country when there's so much history that people are attempting to actively erase. There's so much distance people are trying to put between our past and our present.
MD: You always do this to me. I was charged up about this. But you have a point. We are in a place where a presidential administration is hell-bent on erasing history. If Juneteenth fights back, how am I supposed to oppose that?
MHG: And I'll say — It would have been easier for the planning committee to just ignore Juneteenth all together. We're seeing rollbacks of DEI and the pushback of "wokeism." And FIFA itself has had plenty of issues in these areas. And to be clear — the committee is not directly associated with FIFA.
But the fact that in this rare time, with so many people from around the world touching down on this soil, they may know very limited U.S. history, but at this game? I'm going to be in a halftime commercial with Gary Payton talking about our history. There will be so many people who otherwise would not learn about this part of history and about why Juneteenth is a holiday. There's power in that.
MD: For people looking for events to celebrate Juneteenth, outside of the expensive game, where should they go?
MHG: Africatown is having a Juneteenth event that is supposed to be the biggest one ever in Seattle. Marsha Ambrosius, one-half of Floetry, will be there, along with other artists. The Northwest African American Museum will be having its big event just steps away. And the Emerald has a guide for everything happening in the South End all weekend.
The Roundup Rundown
Juneteenth is today, and I know people are amped up about the World Cup with team USA playing in Seattle. But there are so many other events jumping off, with plenty happening in the South End.
Contributor Lauryn Bray has a complete guide to Juneteenth with events happening all weekend long. Read her guide for details, and please, get outside, learn some history, reflect, and enjoy time with your neighbors.
This is a really good read. Contributor Syris Valentine takes you into the world of Black and Brown birders building community and promoting wellness around Seattle, including in Seward Park.
Trust me — whatever you think you know about birding as an activity, this article will entice you, as it did for me, to get outside, check out some birds, and make a few friends.
Summer is here, and the graduating high school class of 2026 has made their way across stages to grab diplomas all over the city.
But tragically, here in the South End, a couple of grads will not get to turn their tassels.
Columnist Gennette Cordova wrote a lovely obit for Tyjon Stewart and Tra'Veiah Houfmuse, the two youth who were recently killed in Rainier Beach.
Sign Up for More!
This is an abbreviated version of The Roundup newsletter. To get the entire newsletter, including a weekly list of events to check out and my shout-out to South End Gems, subscribe here. See you next week!
Mike Davis is the newsletter editor and Voices editor at the South Seattle Emerald. Born and raised in Seattle's South End, Mike is a longtime journalist who's covered everything from arts and culture to sports to politics.
No Paywalls. No Billionaires. Just Us.
We're building a newsroom rooted in community, not corporate backing. Help us raise funds to hire our first-ever full-time reporter and grow our capacity to cover the South End. Donate today.
