Celebrating Juneteenth 2025

The first Juneteenth celebration of the day started early in Pooler with 1.9K and 6.19K runs. Visual journalist Justin Taylor was there as 250 runners and walkers crossed the finish line.

A spirit of defiance was the undercurrent at Tybee Island’s Juneteenth celebration, an annual wade-in at South Beach in commemoration of the 11 Black citizens who were arrested in 1960 for attempting to swim at the whites-only public beach. 

At the ceremony, which was organized by human rights group TybeeMLK, speakers celebrated freedom, faith, Gullah Geechee culture, and community but also spoke out against the current president Donald Trump. Juneteenth, which is also referred to as Freedom Day and was declared a federal holiday in 2021, recognizes the end of slavery in the United States. 

“This is the only freedom celebration that America has. We understand that during the fourth of July a third of the population of the United States was in bondage, but we all celebrate the Fourth of July. But now we all celebrate Juneteenth,” said Julia Pearce of the Tybee group.

Others looked to the future.

“Sometimes we must put the democratic system in which we live on trial in order to be able to actualize what democracy can really be, and we must ask basic questions like, ‘Is it really democracy when we have an authoritarian in office?’” Savannah-based personal injury lawyer Chad Mance said to the crowd, which reached around 100 individuals at its peak.

“Is it really democracy when we have a 45 million dollar parade of pomp and circumstance, of political personality?” Mance continued, referencing the military parade held in Washington, D.C. Saturday for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, which coincided with Trump’s 79th birthday. Mance’s questions were answered with shouts of “no kings” from the crowd — the name of the nationwide rallies held on the same day as the military parade in protest of Trump’s administration.

Speakers also celebrated the diversity of the crowd across race and age, calling upon the group to remain united against division and threats to freedom. 

“I don’t know how my people survived slavery, but we’re standing here today because they believed,” said Patt Gunn, a local storyteller and member of the Saltwata Players band. 

After Gunn’s speech and serenades by the Saltwata Players, including “Roll, Jordan” and “Study War No More,” Gunn led the crowd to the surf for the wade-in to the tune of “Wade in the Water.” Many individuals tossed yellow flowers into the water. Gunn said the yellow represents forgiveness. 

“No one that is here today are responsible for the deeds of your ancestors,” she said in her speech. “We have been blessed by the elders who release you, and as we release you, we gotta get to the water.”

– Lily Belle Poling

About 100 people of all ages clustered around shaded picnic tables out of a blazing sun at the Riceboro Youth Center to celebrate Juneteenth Thursday. 

Amidst a free lunch and prize drawings, they listened to presentations sponsored by the Progressive Missionary Baptist Association honoring their ancestors forced into slavery and celebrating progress since then.

Riceboro Mayor Chris Stacy told the crowd that Black history exists around the venerable town in Liberty County, but residents don’t pay close enough attention to it. “You’ve got the Lecounte Plantation and you’ve got the Gullah Geechee Museum,” he said. Yet “you can go around the entire city of Riceboro, and yet you will find nothing of our history. And here we are today to celebrate Juneteenth, right here, on property that was never owned by us, and we are back to the same spot where we started.”

Stacy reminded attendees of the city’s deep ties to the Lecounte Plantation, where the direct ancestors of many of those present had been held against their will and forced to work in the rice fields: “So there was a lot of history on this side right here, as the slaves got off the boat. And as you go up E.B. Cooper Highway, up under all them oak trees, late at night, if you walk through there, you can hear some of the old slaves singing songs, if your spirit is in the right spirit. Because that’s where they used to have to go through to go to the Lecounte Plantation. So we really need to learn our history, celebrate our history, but most important, learn your history.”

Mya Timmons works under a University of Georgia Sea Grant project to conserve ecologically and culturally important plants in Coastal Georgia. As an intern in 2022, Timmons and her cousin, Kay’la Brennon interviewed Gullah Geechee residents about the different plants they used to create a plant guide. The work was intended “not only help to preserve the historical ties that we have to the plants, but also help conserve those plants, as well,” Timmons said. 

To engage younger people in that ecological history, Timmons created a coloring book that illustrates local plant life. 

She now has her own grant to create two more coloring books, one of which, she said, will feature the Gullah Geechee’s ties to the water through her own family history. 

Timmons’ aunt, Fran, founded the Direct Descendants of Harris Neck Community. Her family’s oyster factory, open since 1924, is Harris Neck Seafood next to the boat launch near Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, about 15 minutes from Riceboro.

“It all started with my great-great grandad. He had his own oyster factory. And so, like throughout the years, with my granddaddy and even now with my dad, they’re still in the seafood industry,” Timmons said. 

Sandra Hicks-Sheffield, a retired teacher and soprano who performs spirituals, treated the crowd to several songs, including “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child.” 

Hicks-Sheffield regularly performs for historic events, such as an April 2024 ceremony honoring Susie King Taylor’s escape to freedom down Jones Creek from the old Grest Plantation near Midway. 

The Christian Jubilees and the Voices of Joy also performed at the Juneteenth gathering. Pastor Ronnie J. Leggett of First Anderson Grove Baptist Church recited Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. 

And no Juneteenth would be complete without “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” which the crowd did enthusiastically.

“They have one of the best Juneteenth celebrations in Southeast Georgia,” said State Rep. Al Williams, who attended the Riceboro festival. “And the Progressive Baptist Convention, with the cooperation of Mayor Stacy and the city, are doing an outstanding job.I was honored to speak and wanted to encourage people through very difficult times, with cuts to programs and jobs, that all is not lost. Just keep on struggling and fighting.” 

Other elected officials spotted at the event included Mayor Pro Tempore Louise Brown, Sheriff Will Bowman, and District 2 County Commissioner Marion Stevens.

– Robin Kemp

Hundreds turned out at the historic Selden Park for Brunswick’s flagship Juneteenth celebration, put together by the Glynn County Tigers, with the help of sponsors.

This year’s event marks the sixth consecutive year that the nonprofit has organized the day commemorating the end of slavery in 1865.

“The people who are working diligently to give us this opportunity each and every year are the true leaders of this city and this county, and for them, we are forever thankful not only as a city, but also as a county,” said Brunswick Mayor Cosby Johnson.

Most attendees huddled beneath tents to escape the blistering heat that Coastal Georgia produces during the dog days of summer. Others perused the vendors, such as Lisa’s Sweet Treats, Smoke Kings, or the information table featuring the Glynn County Police Department. 

Mauriceia Harriet, 25, grew up in the ARCO Subdivision. She said that she has celebrated Juneteenth for as long as she can remember, which she attributes to her great-grandmother, who was born at the end of slavery. Her grandmother always underscored the significance that the date June 19 held to her children, who would in turn do the same with theirs. 

“For me, in the schools, our history is getting less and less. So if the parents don’t talk to their children about it, it’ll be gone eventually. If the parents and grandparents do not talk to these younger generations, it’s gonna be gone. Because the schools is not talking about it,” she said.

Despite the celebration’s standing presence in the community and its ability to draw hundreds, Shawn Mangram, vice chair of the Juneteenth Committee and vice president of the Glynn County Tigers, wants to see the event continue to grow. He sees more room for engagement.

“We don’t make any money off of it if we just wanna get people together, just let them have a good time, and experience having a good time and support each other and experience unity,” Mangram said. 

He added that the coordination takes about a year, and the committee will likely meet within the next two weeks to discuss what worked, what didn’t, and how it can improve. 

The event was hosted by Jasmine Mangram and Ashley Jackson, featuring a spirited southern performance by Tranquility for the Soul, who hailed from Jacksonville, along with old-school musical selections by DJ Ziggy. 

“It’s important to know the history behind what you’re celebrating. And if we know the history behind something, we can conquer and move on and prosper in our futures, and let our children, our young people, know,” said Sharon Banks from Sapelo Island. “So that when they get a certain age, they’ll have the knowledge to know what Juneteenth is in order for them to prosper and whatever they choose to do in life.”

-Jabari Gibbs

Liberty County residents passed through Bryant Commons in Hinesville on Saturday to celebrate at the Juneteenth Freedom Day Festival in the park.

Throughout the muggy afternoon, families beat the gnats and trickled into the park’s playground and fished in the nearby pond while others walked through the various vendor booths, line-danced, and ate at food trucks. Classic hip-hop and R&B boomed through the speakers as the DJ welcomed members of the community to celebrate an important day in African-American history.

Some of the vendors included local clothing businesses, artists, and crochet apparel. Booths for the Hinesville Police Department, Live Oak Public Libraries, and Liberty County Health Department were also present. 

Tameka Haynes, co-owner of Blessed Eight Christian Apparel, recently moved to Ludowici from Baltimore with her blended family of eight children. She says coming to the event as a vendor was about showing support for Juneteenth and also getting to know more people in the area.

“So many people focus on the Fourth of July, but the freedom of Black slaves is monumental. I feel like, especially today, when they’re trying to take us back, it’s more important for us to get together and celebrate what is,” she said. “We’ve been free-ish, because the world we live in still has not much division. So just to come out and celebrate this holiday is a blessing.”

Haynes said that on a personal level, she believes that it’s important to understand and learn about the history of Juneteenth in order to continue celebrating Black history.

“If we don’t, they’re gonna try to erase it, so we have to remain united as a front,” Haynes said. “They’re already trying to erase so much. It’s important to instill in our children, and grandchildren as well, the importance of our history.”

Yolanda Fields hasn’t been able to attend Juneteenth events in the past because she normally doesn’t have the day off. She said this is the first year she was able to celebrate with her daughter, Alanis, because the event was on a weekend. Fields said celebrating holidays like Juneteenth remains especially important under the Trump administration.

“I think it’s important now because we have this president in office that’s trying to get rid  of everything,” she said. “Everyone should be able to celebrate Juneteenth, it’s not just a Black holiday. It can be for everyone.”

Shamond Moss, co-owner of Gata’s Sports Bar & Grille, helped coordinate the celebration with a few others. He said Juneteenth is a celebration that makes him reflect on how Black Americans have grown since the end of slavery.

“We’ve always wanted to do something that gives back to the community, and what better reason than for our freedom, our real freedom? Fourth of July is definitely the freedom day, but our freedom, when we got out of chains, is Juneteenth. So that was enough inspiration for me right there.”

He hopes that Juneteenth continues to remind people of the fight that continues for equality.

“We can never forget. The younger generation must know. They have to know where they came from in order to know where they’re going. That’s just what it is”

Throughout the day, event goers and vendors spoke of the need to continue celebrating Juneteenth 160 years after that fateful day in Galveston, Texas. Many said they hope that the importance of the holiday is not lost on today’s youth. Gerald Haggray, who attended the event with his wife Patrica, echoed that feeling. 

“We have to have these young people come and put forth the effort because if they don’t do it, it’s going to die down anyway,” he said. “And a lot of people want it to go, they want it to die down. We gotta have our young people stand up, because the older folks can’t do it by themselves and they’re eventually gonna leave us, so the young people gotta pick that straw and keep going with it.”

-Domonique King

Hundreds gathered in Forsyth Park Saturday afternoon for the Savannah Juneteenth Fine Arts Festival. 

As performers told stories, played instruments, danced and sang, festival attendees bobbed between various artistic booths or relaxed under the shade of live oak trees.

One performer, Lillian Grant-Baptiste, a renowned Gullah Geechee storyteller, reminded the crowd to remember the Africans who were captured, transported in slave vessels and enslaved in the Americas. 

“We remember those who cried out for freedom. We remember those who fought for their own freedom,” Grant-Baptiste said. “We remember those who were men and women who built the backbone of this community. We remember them as their bodies lay beneath the river and hug the ocean floor.”

To Grant-Baptiste, the holiday called for celebration and joy, but also for remembrance of “those whose shoulders we stand on.”

-Lily Belle Poling

The room at District Live in Savannah became a sea of dashikis as over 100 people piled in for The Day of Jubilee, a Juneteenth celebration designed to reflect on freedom, faith and the fortitude of Black Americans on June 22. 

The show, designed and hosted by Master Storyteller Lillian Grant-Baptiste, started with a procession of elders and any elected officials in attendance. Baptiste said this honoring needed to be at the very beginning because society has stepped away from the practice of honoring our elders. 

“There’s a proverb that says, when an elder dies, a library burns,” Baptiste said.

Many of the elders there had a personal connection to Baptiste, such as her mother and uncle. The event was also attended by Edna Jackson, the city’s first African-American female mayor, and Gwendolyn Goodman, the first African-American alderwoman to be elected.

The show took viewers on a visual and auditory journey through the history of Black people across the globe, starting with a tribute to Mama Afrika and cycling all the way to the current day, which Baptiste reminded them was not the finish line, but another step towards progress. 

“We come to celebrate, but we understand it’s not really about victory, but progress,” Baptiste said. “Sometimes it feels like some of the progress that we made, much of it, is being rolled back, but we still stand.”

Performances included traditional African dances performed by members of Abeni Cultural Arts dance studio and live drummers. Audience members also got to witness spoken word performances from local artists CJ Giovanni and Maxine Bryant. 

There was also a special performance from the Gullah Geechee Ring Shouters, a group that aims to preserve the ring shout, a religious ritual where worshipers move in a circle while stomping and shuffling their feet and clapping their hands.

The practice originated in 1739 after the Stono Rebellion in South Carolina. Drums were considered to be dangerous communication tools for slaves and were thus banned. 

“My ancestors paid a price for freedom,” Baptiste said. “As we gather here today, we gather to remember and reflect, to reckon with where we are now, and to recommit ourselves toward our continued struggle for liberation.”

-Tyler Davis