Overview:

Organizers of the city’s celebrations discuss the dynamics of organizing for Juneteenth in a city where Black citizens comprise less than 2% of the population.

When Vanessa Fuller was growing up in Eugene in the 1990s, no one talked much about Juneteenth.

The June 19 holiday, a celebration of the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned from Union soldiers that slavery had ended in the United States two years earlier, went largely unnoticed. 

Now, Fuller is the organizer of one of the two Juneteenth celebrations in Eugene this year. The two celebrations are a sign of both the celebration’s growth since former President Joe Biden declared it a federal holiday in 2021, and the city’s Black community leaning into the holiday in the years since the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. 

“It is a turning point in our history,” said Fuller, who organized the Juneteenth Celebration with X Creative on June 14 at the 5th Street Public Market area. “Being able to highlight that in the same way that we highlight the Fourth of July, people need to recognize it as such and its importance is to our community.”

Visibility in a white space

Census population data for Eugene shows that non-Hispanic white people make up 75.4% of Eugene’s population, compared to Black people comprising 1.8% of the city’s population. 

That the celebrations are in a community with many more white people than not makes it a different event than in a diverse city. That means Eugene’s Juneteenth celebrations are open to everyone, and not geared specifically toward Black attendees. 

Juneteenth celebrations are an opportunity for Black-owned businesses to be visible downtown. Fuller said that the celebration, which brought Black-owned businesses and customers to the 5th Street Market, brought Eugene residents out to literally see what the city’s Black community has to offer. 

“You don’t see predominantly black businesses or black people down at 5th Street Market ever,” said Fuller. “We don’t get that kind of visibility in the community in one space, ever.” 

Shanaè Joyce-Stringer of B.L.A.Q. Youth, Inc. organized the city’s other Juneteenth event, the Juneteenth Gathering, scheduled for Thursday, June 19 from 3-8 p.m. at the Farmers Market Pavilion in downtown Eugene. Joyce-Stringer echoed the importance of the holiday for vendors. 

“There are very few brick and mortar Black-owned spaces in this community,” she said. “Being able to curate a space where they can connect with a wider community, then maybe connect with new clients, is key.”

Needed: Education, security, funding

The biggest difference between Juneteenth in Eugene and in a diverse city is the need for education, Fuller said, as white locales require a larger teaching component than an audience already familiar with Black history.

“I think not that it’s our responsibility, but to be able to have a place where people can learn and understand, I think that’s really important,” Fuller said. “Nothing gets done if we put up barriers on both ends.”

Education starts at check-in at Joyce-Stringer’s event, where attendees can collect trinkets and gift bags with books about the holiday. 

An uglier difference is higher security in tense times. 

Fuller’s event began in 2020. She and Drea Smith were thinking of how to follow up the Black Lives Matter protests to keep momentum going, before landing on a Juneteenth celebration. That first year had both unmarked and marked security, Fuller said. Precautions have decreased from the early days; stray social media hatred and occasional threats have not resulted in any actual negativity at the celebrations. 

Joyce-Stringer said at a time with greater awareness of hate speech and racism, their event has increased safety measures. However, she expects it to go off without a problem. 

A woman with short, orange-blonde hair wearing a green t-shirt that says "MORGANIC" holds a baby while standing behind a table laden with colorful folded fabrics or products. She looks to her left, where a young child in glasses is looking up at her. To the right, the back of a young person with dark hair in a bun, wearing a striped shirt and jeans, is visible. The scene takes place indoors with large glass garage-style doors in the background, suggesting it is at last year's Juneteenth Gathering, organized by B.LA.Q. Youth, Inc., at the Farmers Market Pavilion in downtown Eugene.
A family attends last year’s Juneteenth Gathering, organized by B.L.A.Q. Youth, Inc., at the Farmers Market Pavilion in downtown Eugene. Credit: Courtesy Shanaè Joyce-Stringer / B.L.A.Q. Youth, Inc.

She pointed to another dynamic of running a Juneteenth celebration in a majority white place: funding. In a time of widespread cuts to anything touching on diversity and inclusion, she worried about financial support for the celebration.

She was wrong. 

“I was pleasantly pleased and surprised by the overwhelming support that we had. I had a goal in mind of how much I believe we needed to raise in order to put on this event, I’m glad to say that we exceeded that amount,” she said.

Funding came from community organizations, nonprofits, city and county government and state agencies. She praised them for believing in celebrating culturally specific events.

In her experience, she said, Eugene’s white residents are good at showing up. But, she would want to see a community uplifting all of its members on every day, and not just holidays.

“It’s not just showing up at the events, but also understanding that being in community and experiencing joy together and experiencing learning together needs to also filter into our other systems,” she said. “What does that look like with our city government? What does that look like, just even amongst us as neighbors within our health care and health system?”

Annie Aguiar is the Arts and Culture Correspondent. She has reported arts news and features for national and local newsrooms, including at the Seattle Times, the Washington Post and most recently as a reporting fellow for the New York Times’ Culture desk covering arts and entertainment.