Juneteenth Triumph
Week-long celebration "provided the unity that we need to begin to heal"
By Tabitha Ervin
Ink Spot Contributing Editor
I recently had the opportunity to reconnect via zoom with Adrian Curry of The Art Leadership Center to recap the Juneteenth events put on this summer by the Juneteenth Collaborative.
Curry said all events went extremely well over the week of events with the two months of planning done by the Collaborative. He was very proud that the group was able to declare Juneteenth in the City of Fort Wayne before it became a federal holiday this year.
While all of the events were amazing, the most touching for Curry was honoring the elders in a ceremony to kick off the week and the close of the week with the passing of the torch, the promenade, and the closing celebration at McMillan Park which drew hundreds of community members and a variety of vendors, food trucks, performers, and speakers to celebrate.
The group reports it had amazing support by way of fundraising in the community and from sponsors. The total amount raised was $22, 278. The general community contributed $11,828 and $10,450 from sponsors. The expenses for the event totaled $17,216 and the group will use the remaining balance of $5,061 as seed money for next year.
The Collaborative is very thankful for the generous donations they received for the celebration to educate and organize the community to uplift each other. Curry stated, “we are what we need, and the celebration provided the unity that we need to begin to heal”.
Curry also expressed thanks to the five sub-committees and chairs who led the charge for this seven-day celebration which included fundraising, marketing, communications, programming, and logistics.
Curry says he learned a lot through this process and has grown through the experience of leading the first time Collaborative through the journey of organizing and putting together all of the events.
In the future, the Collaborative looks to celebrate Kwanzaa and Black history month along with Juneteenth.
