Brookhaven will hold an inaugural Juneteenth event this weekend at Lynwood Park, a Black neighborhood dating back to the early 1930s.
The north DeKalb County city will hold the event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, and will feature live jazz music, African American-owned food trucks and a local high school funk performance, according to a news release. It’s the first Juneteenth event hosted by Brookhaven.
June 19, also known as Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, became a county, state and federal holiday over the past two years. Since this year’s holiday falls on a Sunday, most government offices will be closed Monday.
In 2020, Brookhaven gave Lynwood Park the city’s first historic designation for its role as a Black neighborhood. The Lynwood Community Center, which was once Lynwood School, was a segregated school that taught Black children until 1968, when the DeKalb County School District integrated. That first round of students was known as the “Lynwood Trailblazers.”
“The first City celebration of this holiday is also an opportunity for the community to revisit the significance of this historic moment and the relevance of the Historic Lynwood Park neighborhood, with an emphasis towards social and racial equity, and freedom for all people,” Brookhaven said in the release.
Lynwood Park is located at 3360 Osborne Road.
Juneteenth holiday: Related coverage
Here is some background on the path to making Juneteenth a holiday in Georgia and the U.S.
What is Juneteenth? How it began and the move to make it a paid day off
Juneteenth 2022 events in metro Atlanta
Work holiday? How Georgia companies are handling Juneteenth
A celebration? An observance? Discussion of how to mark Juneteenth
Juneteenth is now a paid state holiday for Georgia employees
Metro Atlanta governments grapple with Juneteenth’s new holiday status
Brookhaven to hold Juneteenth event in DeKalb’s oldest Black neighborhood
Following backlash, Tucker adds Juneteenth as paid city holiday
About the Author
