BOYNTON BEACH — Five years ago, Boynton Beach activist Tory Orr proposed to city officials that he be allowed to organize Boynton’s first community event to memorialize Juneteenth, also known as “Freedom Day.

At the time, the historical date wasn’t a federal holiday.

This year, the city held its fifth Juneteenth celebration with a gathering Saturday in a city park that featured gospel music, a stepping performance, and a grilled-ribs competition. Orr said the event has grown to become a crucial celebration for the Black community of Palm Beach County.

“I never learned any of this as a child,” Orr, 47, said of the history of Juneteenth. “We recognize it as the day we got our freedom, and I saw it wasn’t being acknowledged.”

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when the last African-American slaves were notified, in Texas, that they had been freed from their masters. President Joe Biden signed a bill in 2019 making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

“It’s like the Fourth of July, but for Black people,” said Glenn Holcomb, who has lived in Boynton Beach for 30 years. “America celebrated its independence, but our independence was from slavery.”

Under gray, cloudy skies and light showers, more than 100 people gathered at Sara Sims Park to sing, dance, eat and reflect. The uplifting harmonies of gospel and jazz reverberated through the green lawn, families clapped and swayed together and the scent of barbecue, charcoal and roasted pork infused the humid breeze.

Frog Smith, who was born and raised in Boynton Beach, took the “BBQ Cookout Championship” belt home for the juicy ribs he grilled at the park.

Holcomb, 57, president of the Delray chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, a historically Black fraternity, says Juneteenth is centered on education. “Even though it was my ancestors that lived through slavery, it’s part of my history,” Holcomb said. “And, I want my kids to know. We don’t want it to get lost.”

Lee McGhee, a Wellington resident, said Juneteenth should have been declared a federal holiday decades ago. “It was overdue,” he said. “Way overdue.”

McGhee brought colorful paintings made in Ghana to sell at the event portraits of Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela and Bob Marley made with kente cloth, a symbol of African unity and heritage. “This is part of our culture and I wanted to bring a piece of it to our people,” McGhee said.

Florida Atlantic University student Mario Hunt, 21, joined by his Omega Psi Phi fraternity brothers, performed a stepping march from 1911 that pays homage to the struggles of enslaved Black people. “I want to know, I need to know, why were we treated so bad?” they chanted in unison. Omega Psi Phi also is a historically Black fraternity.

“This is our day to share our brotherhood with the community,” Hunt said.

For gospel vocalist Jimmy Hicks, Juneteenth is also meant to honor the Black leaders that fought for their civil rights such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Aileen Hernandez. “It’s a memorial day to remember where we came from,” Hicks said. “For the people that gave their lives to give us our freedoms.”

Orr hopes the annual community event keeps growing each year and continues serving as a space for Blacks in Palm Beach County to unite.

“With these events, I can show my brothers what a better community can be,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: in Boynton, Juneteenth celebration generates reflections on freedom