Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson hosted the annual Juneteenth flag-raising celebration outside Borough Hall on Tuesday, June 18. Signed into law on May 17, 2021, by President Joe Biden, Juneteenth is celebrating its third year as an official U.S. holiday commemorating the end of slavery in Texas and the United States.
Representing the history and freedom of Africans and African-American enslaved people and their descendants, the Juneteenth Flag’s red, blue, and white colors are deeply significant with the star in the center surrounded by a starburst expressing a new beginning, a new freedom, and a new people interweaved into American history and life. The arc colored in red pays homage to those who suffered and died for the cause of freedom with blue, for the hope that still stands on the horizon for all Americans.
Debra G. Tirado, President of Bridgefield Civic League, served as the ceremony’s emcee. This year’s honorees included retired principal and lifelong member of the NAACP, Deborah Harris; multi-disciplined artist, researcher, and award-winning documentarian, Imam Mahawa Sesay Drammeh; and Founder of the Sierra Leone Nurses Association, The Honorable, Zainabou Sesay Harrell.
Spoken Word artists from Bronx Poetry, performed before and after the official raising of the Juneteenth Flag with original works celebrating the African-American experience and its impact on American culture.
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