‘Important ceremony’ Dunkirk celebrates 27th Juneteenth event
OBSERVER Photos by Jo Ward Frank Torain, one of the members of the Juneteenth celebration committee, cooks up ribs and chicken to sell at the 27th annual Juneteenth celebrations in the city of Dunkirk.
Ashley Rojas, Clarissa William and Laurie Williams help sell food for the Juneteenth celebrations.
Jackson Lucas Weber tries to Connect Four with his mother Amanda Weber.
OBSERVER Photos by Jo Ward Frank Torain, one of the members of the Juneteenth celebration committee, cooks up ribs and chicken to sell at the 27th annual Juneteenth celebrations in the city of Dunkirk.
Ashley Rojas, Clarissa William and Laurie Williams help sell food for the Juneteenth celebrations.
Jackson Lucas Weber tries to Connect Four with his mother Amanda Weber.
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The 27th annual Juneteenth celebration with the theme "We are the ones to create change" took place in the city of Dunkirk at Memorial Park during the weekend.
The event opened with recordings of Alicia Keys singing the African-American song "Lift Every Voice And Sing" and the Star-Spangled Banner by Whitney Houston. Following the playing of those pieces, Loretta Torain, one of the leaders in the development of the Juneteenth celebrations in the city, spoke of the Stones of Remembrance ceremony and the memorialization of loved ones.
"This is an important ceremony as we remember those who have gone before us and the strength and endurance of enslaved people," Torain began. "The first Stones of Remembrance was a memorial in remembrance of God's divine provision of bringing an enslaved people, the Israelites, into the promised land."
Torain then spoke of how through the guidance of Joshua, the Israelites celebrated the first stones memorial stating that "every time they looked at the stones they were to be reminded of God."
The ceremony in the park was to act on that memorial to those who have gone before. Torain then spoke of the 12.5 million Africans who were transported to the Americas. Of those, 10.7 million survived the journey.
The color of the stone used to honor them is black. The other two stones that were present at the ceremony was one in the color red, which was in remembrance of all of those who are enslaved in a strange land. The third stone is in the color green and represents all of the loved ones that have gone before us.
"These three colors represent The African American flag," Torain added. "Red represents the bloodshed by African-Americans for freedom and equality in America, the black representing pride in the black race and green representing intellect, prosperity and peace." Also during the opening ceremonies, a proclamation by city Mayor Wilfred Rosas was read and a poem written by Langston Hughes titled "I Too," was also shared.
As the day progressed families and citizens from the area came to enjoy barbecue by the Rib Shack, games and bounce houses, raffles and vendors as well as music and entertainment events.