Juneteenth Atlanta fest goes on despite near-cancellation amid ‘DEI attack’

But it’s a celebration that almost didn’t happen.

Across the country this year, Juneteenth is being celebrated amid a political climate hostile to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, leading to a pullback in support from the federal government and corporations for anything that could be labeled DEI.

“We lost a lot of sponsorship. We got caught up in the DEI attack,” Bob Johnson, founder and director of the Juneteenth Atlanta Parade and Music Festival, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “At one point, we didn’t know if we were going to be able to have the event.”

Since Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump has issued a spate of executive orders targeting DEI initiatives in the public and private sectors. His administration is also trying to end the Transportation Department’s minority contracting program and purge images highlighting diversity in the military. The Trump administration argues the initiatives are illegal or unconstitutional.

But some say Trump is using executive orders not just as a policy document, but as a way to effect structural change.

“What we’ve been seeing is that the executive orders and all the executive actions have been utilized as a way … to transform not only the federal government, but the social structure that we see in this country,” said Jonathan Cox, vice president for the Center for Policy Analysis and Research at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.

Rodney Strong, an Atlanta lawyer who specializes in public contract law and supplier diversity, is concerned that the larger wave of legal and policy efforts against affirmative action programs will create “an environment which will allow for discriminatory behavior to go unchecked.”

“Really their real concern is not just the federal (disadvantaged business enterprise) program, but it’s the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It’s the Voting Rights Act of 1965,” Strong said.

The anti-DEI executive orders have also sent a chilling effect across corporate America.

Companies like Target and Verizon have recently stepped back from DEI commitments. U.S. employers have cut at least 270 jobs with words including “diversity” or “DEI” in the titles or descriptions since January, according to NPR. Since 2023, more than 2,600 DEI-related jobs have been eliminated.

But Johnson doesn’t consider the Juneteenth Atlanta festival to be about DEI, but about commemorating the end of slavery for everyone across the U.S.

“Juneteenth is about freedom and freedom for all people, all the time, everywhere,” Johnson said. “Freedom not just for any certain group of people. No, for everyone.”

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

He hosted his first Juneteenth Atlanta event in 2012, but it took a few years of grassroots efforts, passing out flyers and talking to people in barbershops, hair salons and supermarkets about the history of the holiday before his event started to grow.

“I realized that people weren’t aware of what Juneteenth was. … They saw it as a typo. Like maybe I meant to say June the 10th and put an extra “e” in there,” Johnson said.

But by 2021, an estimated 100,000 people attended the three-day event at Centennial Olympic Park. That’s the year corporate sponsors also started to come on board.

Credit: Katelyn Myrick

Credit: Katelyn Myrick

Some of Johnson’s key longtime sponsors were multiple branches of the military, but this year they pulled out just months before the event, he said. Johnson was working to plan something special to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. Army this year, including potentially having parachutists land in Piedmont Park, but then the military pulled its support.

Johnson estimates the organization lost about $70,000 because of the pullback. The Defense Department referred a request for comment to the armed services. In response to a request for comment, an official Army spokesperson said the Army is aware and is looking into the issue.

Johnson said corporate sponsors have remained on board this year but have lowered their contributions. He’s had many sleepless nights trying to figure out how his nonprofit could put on the event, which costs $250,000 to $500,000, he said.

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Typically, the event goes from Friday to Sunday, but the pullback from sponsors this year meant that for the first time in the event’s 13-year history, Johnson had to downsize it to just two days.

Even with the obstacles, Johnson said “it’s just not in our DNA to pull out.” Every storm eventually passes.

Despite the shortened schedule, people still celebrated in a muddy Piedmont Park. Children frolicked among the multitude of bouncy houses, a DJ played classic hits and people perused the art and food for sale.

After the sudden downpour, the rain cleared, the clouds parted and the sun shone once again.

— Staff writer Emma Hurt contributed to this report.