![\"Barbara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIA_6_Juneteenth_Barbara_MJO.JPG\" "\\"Barbara")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Barbara Williamson, 85, holds a Juneteenth flag at her home on Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Williamson participated in sit-ins and fought for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.<\/p>\n
Photo by Matias J. Ocner<\/p>\n
mocner@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n
Barbara Williamson learned about Juneteenth from her grandfather who told her of the holiday\u2019s history when she was a little girl living in Boca Raton. Since then, Williamson, 85, has celebrated the holiday instead of Fourth of July, often holding a barbecue with red Kool-Aid and spending time reflecting on Black history.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody can stop me from celebrating,\u201d said Williamson, now a Fort Lauderdale resident. \u201cIt\u2019s all about freedom, and freedom is worth celebrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
The holiday had long been celebrated in Black communities across the South before it became a federal holiday five years ago. Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom. That began what\u2019s considered the longest-running Black American holiday. But in the time since Juneteenth become a nationally-recognized holiday, Black people have seen the rolling back of certain civil rights and the way Black history is taught and discussed in schools has become a point of contention.<\/p>\n
Florida has passed legislation restricting schools from discussing topics<\/a> related to race and gender, books have been banned<\/a> that mention race and sexuality. Earlier this year, the state passed a law prohibiting government dollars<\/a> from being spent on cultural events not already celebrated at the state or federal level. Nationally, a Supreme Court ruling<\/a> effectively got rid of a key provision of the Voting Rights Act and sparked redistricting wars across southern states<\/a>.<\/p>\n Even as they worry about the erosion of civil rights protections and efforts to curtail diversity initiatives, the South Floridians interviewed for this story say Juneteenth remains a reason to celebrate. Their plans range from family barbecues and trips to cultural landmarks to mentoring young people and supporting Black-owned businesses. Together, they view the holiday as more than a commemoration of freedom won in 1865 \u2014 it is a chance to strengthen community bonds and prepare the next generation to protect those freedoms.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica is on fire,\u201d Williamson said, recalling her participation in sit-ins during college in North Carolina, advocating for the Voting Rights Act, and the work it took to get civil rights for Black people. She\u2019s also seen the tides change and warned if Black people aren\u2019t careful, it could get much worse.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are now experiencing something difficult. It\u2019s very difficult to name it, and it\u2019s impossible to ignore,\u201d she said. \u201cThey have a grief, and something is being taken away: a lot of our rights that we thought we had.\u201d<\/p>\n RELATED: Culture, community and cuisine: Where to celebrate Juneteenth in South Florida<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018We are going to survive\u2019<\/p>\n For Williamson, it\u2019s important to teach the youth about what she went through during the civil rights movement. She recalled being arrested after being a part of the Woolworth sit-ins when she was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University, and brought that same fervor to Boca Raton when she returned home and protested policies that harmed Black people.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Trump says make America great again, everybody gets excited, but I know how America was during the Civil Rights days,\u201d she said. \u201cI lived it, I was arrested, I was beaten. I was spat upon when I was marching.\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019s worried that as the state has limited the way Black history is taught and has made extensive efforts to reduce Black voting power through redistricting, Black youth who aren\u2019t effectively taught their history won\u2019t understand how they got the freedoms they have now.<\/p>\n \u201cOur young people don\u2019t understand the importance, and they don\u2019t have the experience. They\u2019ve never been told to go to the back of the bus, and they don\u2019t see what\u2019s coming down the pike,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that we, as elders, if we\u2019re going to make the difference, we\u2019re going to have to save our children, and the way to save the children is to teach them that history.\u201d<\/p>\n Anthony Simons III, who is the principal at Booker T. Washington Senior High School, echoed Williamson\u2019s urgent call for teaching young people about Black history: \u201cWe have to start with our youth, we have to educate them, we have to teach them, we have to be those mentors, we gotta be the change that we want to see,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Simons, 51, didn\u2019t live the experience Williamson described, but his father \u2014 a native of Turks and Caicos Islands who moved to Miami when he was a boy \u2014 has reminded him of the many experiences he dealt with during Jim Crow, including having to drink from segregated water fountains.<\/p>\n Simons said many of his students have questions about voting and being politically engaged. \u201cI was telling a student, if you\u2019re going to vote, educate yourself. Who are you voting for? Did you read up on these people? Did you get multiple sources, or did you just go up that first link on Google?\u201d<\/p>\n Like Simons, Metris-Batts Coley, Overtown Business Association\u2019s executive director, said Juneteenth is a moment to remind Black people to invest in Black businesses and nonprofits, particularly those that have lost funding or find themselves having to hide sponsors who support cultural initiatives so they won\u2019t be scrutinized by the government.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to survive, we\u2019re going to be creative,\u201d she said. \u201cWith the types of Juneteenth celebrations that we\u2019re having, people think we\u2019re just partying. We are mobilizing, we\u2019re having conversations with, we\u2019re creating memories with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Williamson says that for Juneteenth she will be taking her grandson to the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale followed by a barbecue at her house. The recent setbacks won\u2019t deter her, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are witnessing everything that\u2019s trying to break us, but it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have more power than we think we have as Black people.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Barbara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIA_7_Juneteenth_Barbara_MJO.JPG\" "\\"MIA_7_Juneteenth_Barbara_MJO.JPG\\"")
Barbara Williamson, 85, holds a Juneteenth flag at her home in Fort Lauderdale. Williamson participated in sit-ins and fought for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n![\"Barbara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIA_5_Juneteenth_Barbara_MJO.JPG\" "\\"MIA_5_Juneteenth_Barbara_MJO.JPG\\"")
Barbara Williamson, 85, is photographed at her home on Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Williamson participated in sit-ins and fought for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n![\"Barbara](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIA_4_Juneteenth_Barbara_MJO.JPG\" "\\"MIA_4_Juneteenth_Barbara_MJO.JPG\\"")
Barbara Williamson, 85, and her grandson, Dominiq Williamson, 11, hold a Juneteenth flag at their home. Williamson participated in sit-ins and fought for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/10HEADSHOTS_RAISAHABERSHAM.JPG\")