By Mike Kinney
Richmond residents gathered to honor and commemorate Juneteenth 2021 with a caravan across the city followed by a rally at Kennedy High School on Saturday.
Cars began from the historic North Richmond Missionary Baptist Church, 1427 Fred Jackson Way and made their way through the city before ending their route at Kennedy High School, 4300 Cutting Blvd., where an educational and cultural program took place.
This year’s Juneteenth Grand Marshall was Jerrold Hatchett. Lorraine Wangari and Naja JiJaga were the youth grand marshals.
The annual Juneteenth celebration commemorates June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger and his Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, TX and announced the Civil War had ended and that slaves were free. The historic Texas event occurred more than two years following the Emancipation Proclamation (Jan. 1, 1863).
