Black Scranton Project will commemorate Juneteenth on Friday with a more low-key celebration than its usual block party.

Glynis Johns, founder and CEO of the Black Scranton Project, said throwing the block party just wasn’t possible. Instead, there will be an open house from 2 to 6 p.m. at its headquarters at 1902 N. Main Ave.

“With everything happening politically and everything happening with funding for arts and cultures, we just don’t have it this year,” Johns said. “Everything’s way more expensive. Utilities are crazy. We already don’t get that much support just being a DIY organization. There’s a lot of things that we had to work on, and sometimes that comes with sacrifices.”

Juneteenth is a federal holiday observed June 19 that commemorates the day news of emancipation for enslaved people in the United States reached Galveston, Texas.

Johns is still dedicated to honoring the holiday — and the Black Scranton Project’s 7th birthday as a nonprofit, which also falls on June 19.

“It’s something worth celebrating, remembering and reminding people of,” Johns said. “We’re not not doing Juneteenth this year. We’re just changing how we’re doing things. We were all looking forward to the block party, but I didn’t have enough support to make it happen, so it’s a sad and unfortunate thing, but it’s still going to be fun. And that’s not saying we won’t ever do it again.”

Johns said the open house is a time for the community to connect, reflect on the holiday and learn something new. The event will feature photography displays depicting the organization’s achievements as well as refreshments and music. Johns will also lead a presentation at the beginning of the event outlining what the Black Scranton Project is.

Since this year is also the 250th anniversary of the United States, Johns said it’s important to recognize where Black Americans fit in, noting that their stories and Juneteenth celebrations are an integral part of American identity.

“Only 100 years have people been really focusing on archiving Black history and Black story and the Black experience through the Black freedom struggle, which includes Juneteenth, so all of those things are in a parallel right now,” she said.

Support through donations to the Black Scranton Project is welcome online or at the open house.

“Because it’s Black Scranton’s birthday, bring Black Scranton a gift,” Johns said. “It could be a pack of paper towels, cleaning supplies, cleaning up the debris around once a month.”

In Wilkes-Barre, the UNITY Collective will host a Juneteenth block party Friday from 4-9 p.m. on Public Square. The event will feature live music, vendors and food.

Also Friday, Wilkes University kicks off its annual LitFest, which continues through June 25. It features a screening Friday of “Always, Most of the Time,” a short film written by Black author R. Alan Brooks, at 7 p.m. at the Dorothy Dickson Darte Center for the Performing Arts.

The event will be hosted by Angelique Palmer, poet and spoken word instructor at Wilkes, and will follow the screening with a talk-back by Brooks, a graphic novelist and comics writer.

David Hicks, director of creative writing, said the Maslow Family Graduate Program in Creative Writing has been hosting readings by Black writers for the last six years.

“Black writers have historically been shut out or repressed from the publishing industry, and it’s really important to provide a celebration of them and their work, not only for our students but for our whole community,” Hicks said. “If we hear from different writers with different voices, then we grow into a more tolerant society and expand our empathy and storytelling abilities. Anytime we get to hear from artists in the Black community it’s eye-opening, revelatory and important.”