Long Beach held a ceremony over the weekend to celebrate a community facility at Martin Luther King Jr. Park being renamed after a longtime local civil rights advocate.
The ceremony for the newly renamed Dale E. Clinton Resource Center was part of the city’s Juneteenth celebration at the park, which drew thousands of people to enjoy various vendors and live entertainment on Saturday, June 20.
The center’s rededication honors Clinton’s work for the city and advocacy in civil rights and anti-poverty programs. Clinton, 99, helped families enroll in Long Beach’s first Head Start classes and championed the program in a letter to President Lyndon B. Johnson that is preserved in the Library of Congress.
Clinton’s building, formerly the Central Facilities Center, serves Long Beach Unified School District’s Child Development Center, as well as the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program and other community organizations.
“She was a strong leader for community and family,” Keith Lilly, who worked with Clinton at the Long Beach Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine, said in an interview.
Clinton, known as the “Queen Mother,” was instrumental in opening the center to provide health services to her community and support single mothers. She worked for the city for decades and helped pave the way for women and people of color gain city employment and assume leadership positions. During the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1960s, Clinton mentored emerging Black leaders in Long Beach.
“Her decades of work advancing civil rights, fair housing, economic opportunity, youth development and racial equity have left a lasting mark on our city,” Sixth District Councilmember Suely Saro said in a statement, “and this recognition will help ensure future generations know her story and legacy.”
In February, Saro brought forth the request to rename the MLK Park facility, which is located in her district. The City Council unanimously approved the measure last month.
Clinton’s recognition, Mayor Rex Richardson said, made this Juneteenth particularly special.
“Juneteenth really is about acknowledging legacy and history and all the steps taken by our ancestors to help create a more equitable, inclusive world for Black people,” Richardson said in an interview this week, “and that’s what she did.”
The building’s official ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place in the fall. The ceremony on Saturday recognized the council’s action to rename the building. Along with a sign, which is under construction, the facility will also have a photo and biography of Clinton.
The rest of the park, meanwhile, hosted a free community celebration with live music, cultural performances and local vendors.
This annual festival, Juneteenth at King Park, was founded by the late Long Beach resident Connie Oden in 1996. Oden worked at Long Beach Parks and Rec, and informed the community about Juneteenth, said Billy Brown, a Juneteenth at King Park committee member.
“It was what I call an exciting moment because the crowd is getting bigger, and we get to educate a lot of people now,” Brown said in an interview. “A lot of people do not know what the significance of Juneteenth is, so this is not just a music festival celebration; it is an educational experience.”
Juneteenth celebrates the date — June 19, 1865 — when the country’s last enslaved Black people, in Galveston, Texas, learned that the Emancipation Proclamation had freed them two years earlier.
“Juneteenth reminds us that the fight for freedom, equity and opportunity is ongoing,” Saro said. “It was inspiring to see our community come together to honor that legacy while celebrating the progress we continue to make.”
Saturday’s festival featured more than 55 vendors, including food booths, artists and Black-owned businesses. A historical display chronicled Black culture in Long Beach and African Americans’ contributions to the city. The celebration also had a kids zone and live entertainment from the Long Beach Community Choir, African drummers, the Wild Bunch jazz band and other local performers.
“We had food from all the cultures within America, and the Black culture there,” said Lilly, who was also a festival committee member. “People loved the food and the clothes. They were really elated to see that they could buy an African outfit from somebody who’s proud to be an entrepreneur and start their own business.”
The Friends of MLK Park group hosted an information booth for the MLK Park Vision Plan, an effort to improve amenities and access with enhanced equipment and a walking path. The project will include a sign to celebrate King’s legacy and the African American community in Long Beach. The vision is part of the city’s Elevate ’28 Infrastructure Investment Plan.
“We were grateful for the continued support from community members,” Friends of MLK Park member Lillian Parker said in a statement, “who shared in the vision of preserving history, honoring legacy and creating a lasting designation that reflects the rich cultural heritage of Long Beach.”
Friends of MLK Park and the WE GOT THIS community organization also helped with Juneteenth at King Park’s student art, essay and spoken word contest.
“We were inspired,” Parker said, “by the outstanding participation and creativity displayed by the students whose talent and voices helped make the event a tremendous success.”
Juneteenth at King Park celebrated its 30th anniversary since Oden first brought the celebration to Long Beach.
“We’d have people like Cameo, Kool & The Gang, Maze and Frankie Beverly,” Brown said of the inaugural festival in 1996. “They had real big top-notch artists back then performing.”
Brown, who has been a festival committee member for four years, said the park has been a space for free concerts and entertainment in Long Beach — and Juneteenth at King Park wants to continue that tradition.
He estimated that a few thousand people made their way through the park on Saturday — and not just Long Beach residents. People also came from surrounding cities like Carson and Bellflower, Brown said.
Juneteenth at King Park coordinated with Long Beach Transit to take people to and from MLK Park and downtown Long Beach, where World Famous VIP Records hosted its Juneteenth block party.
“I had a smile on my face,” Lilly said, “(seeing) all these people out here working together.”