San Francisco’s annual Juneteenth celebration draws a crowd Saturday to the Fillmore neighborhood, the traditional Black hub of the city. June 19, known as Juneteenth, marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been emancipated two years before.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Diana Andrews dances next to the Equity District Community Stage during the Juneteenth Freedom Celebration in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Ed Clark, 70, and grandson Kayden Prestley, 7, look at a 1970 Buick Skylark during the Fillmore’s Juneteenth festival.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Walking Hard attends the Juneteenth celebration in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
An attendees of San Francisco’s Juneteenth celebration shows his gun necklace.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Gigi twerks during the Juneteenth celebration in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Nunu displays a drink filled with alcohol and candy during the Juneteenth celebration in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Alvin McNiel dances during the Bar-Kays’ concert at the Juneteenth celebration.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Frances Evans sits while her daughter takes down her tent during the San Francisco Juneteenth celebration.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Renard Brooks Sr., Jamie Lynn Flores and Royalty Brooks attend the Juneteenth celebration in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
The Juneteenth celebration draws a large crowd to San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Thousands of people turned San Francisco’s Fillmore district into an eight-block-long expression of Black joy and resilience Saturday with Juneteenth celebrations that stretched from morning to evening.
Sometimes called the country’s “second independence day,” June 19th marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been emancipated two years before. In 2021, the date was recognized as a federal holiday, Juneteenth National Independence Day.
Saturday’s celebrations kicked off in front of the Fillmore Heritage Center, a long-shuttered building that many see as a symbol of San Francisco’s divestment from the historically Black neighborhood. City officials announced last month that the Heritage Center will reopen for community use until December, but its future beyond then remains uncertain.
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The Juneteenth celebration draws a large crowd to San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo / For the S.F. Chronicle
“It’s ours,” pastor and civil rights activist Amos C. Brown said of the Fillmore neighborhood, which has struggled to recover the vitality it lost under decades of urban renewal policies. “It’s sacred ground.”
Wearing a “good trouble” sweatshirt and leaning on an ornately carved wooden cane, Brown told Saturday’s crowd that he saw the Fillmore as a home for Black San Franciscans — an analogue to the city’s other cultural hubs such as Chinatown, Japantown and North Beach.
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The city’s Black population has shrunk from a peak of 13.4% in 1970 to just 5.4% in 2020. Though San Francisco became one of the first cities in the country to develop a comprehensive reparations plan three years ago, the city has no immediate plans for making cash payments to its Black residents.
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Juneteenth participants celebrate Black pride in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
A “reparations now” sign sat in the middle of Fillmore Street on Saturday amid the dozens of tents selling street corn, jars of Kool-Aid pineapples, oysters, baseball jerseys and body oil, among other items. The San Francisco Human Rights Commission and the Black Infant Health Program were among the organizations running informational tables.
Musicians, DJs and dancers performed at several stages along Fillmore Street, with the funk band Cameo set to headline Saturday evening. Mabel Childers, who is in her 80s and has attended Juneteenth celebrations in the city for years, said the music was her favorite part. She traveled just a few blocks from her home in the Fillmore to secure a seat by the main stage on Eddy Street.
“People are grooving,” said Darryl Smith, who grew up in San Francisco but now lives in the East Bay. “My favorite part about it is just being out in this festive environment and seeing all the folks in their booths.”
Attendees of San Francisco’s Juneteenth celebration dance at the Equity District Community Stage, a showcase for local talent.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
Still, Smith called it a “watered-down” version of the colorful celebrations he’s read about, when the Fillmore was “like the Harlem of the West Coast” in the 1930s and ‘40s. He’s hopeful the neighborhood will resemble that era again someday.
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“These are people in good faith that care about one another,” Smith said. “I think it’ll come back. We’ll go in a full circle.”
The event was one of many Juneteenth celebrations around the Bay Area this month, including a parade on Market Street next Saturday and Oakland festivals next weekend.
Some attendees of Saturday’s block party wore sequined jackets despite the heat, while others donned Juneteenth shirts sold at the event that said, “I am Black history.” Rickey Johnson sold apparel inspired by the Negro Baseball League, professional leagues that formed when segregationist policies excluded Black players from Major League Baseball.
Attendees walk past a store tent during the Juneteenth celebration in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood Saturday.
Manuel Orbegozo/For the S.F. Chronicle
“I’m seeing a lot of old friends,” said Johnson, who last attended the celebration in 2019. “It’s a great mood. We’ve got a lot going on. It’s grown since I’ve last done it.”
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It was 24-year-old Andrew Smith’s first time back at Juneteenth since he left San Francisco to go to college in Arizona. Now that he’s back in the Bay Area as an adult, Smith sees the block party as a testament to the deep sense of community in the city. He pointed out the many children playing unattended, jumping on trampolines or shooting into a basketball hoop set up in the middle of Eddy Street.
“You figure out how much there is to love about being in San Francisco,” Smith said. “People here help each other.”