{"id":343713,"date":"2026-06-20T03:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T03:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/343713\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T03:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T03:18:10","slug":"no-one-is-free-until-all-are-free-borderland-residents-celebrate-unity-at-annual-juneteenth-festival-the-prospector","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/343713\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018No one is free until all are free\u2019:\u202fBorderland residents celebrate unity at annual Juneteenth festival \u2013 The Prospector"},"content":{"rendered":"

The El Paso Parks and Recreation Department, in partnership with the local nonprofit\u00a0Black El Paso Voice<\/a>, hosted its fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration on June 13, at Nations Tobin Park.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The free event drew a diverse, multicultural crowd and served as the kickoff for a month-long series of city-wide celebrations honoring African American culture and history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The festivities commemorate the historic day of\u00a0June 19, 1865<\/a>, when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to ensure the freedom of all remaining enslaved people in the United States,\u00a0two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The evening featured the reading of an official municipal proclamation by\u00a0El Paso City Representative\u00a0from District 8, Chris Canales,\u00a0<\/a>,\u00a0declaring June 19, 2026, as Juneteenth National Independence Day in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"El Paso City Representative Chris Canales reads a proclamation declaring June 19, 2026, as Juneteenth National Independence Day in El Paso during the city\u2019s fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration at Nations Tobin Park on June 13. (Iziah Moreno<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u201cAcknowledge that the Fourth of July freed the land. Juneteenth freed the people,\u201d Canales\u00a0said as he\u00a0read from the proclamation signed by\u00a0Mayor Renard Johnson<\/a>. \u201cAnd that a complete celebration of American freedom must include the full story of every person it took to build this nation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Monica Tucker<\/a>, the founder of Black El Paso Voice, said receiving the proclamation from the city\u00a0represents\u00a0a growing, consistent relationship with municipal leadership.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen it before, but it just shows that the consistency and the relationship that you have with the\u00a0city\u00a0has\u00a0only grown\u00a0[over the years],\u201d Tucker said. \u201cIt\u2019s important because the city and the residents in the city\u00a0noticed\u00a0that the theme is special and it\u2019s cheerful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tucker said the meaning of Juneteenth goes far beyond El Paso, pointing out that the event is so important to the region that people even travel\u00a0across the border to Mexico to take part in the celebration there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here multiculturally, because of what our ancestors are,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bigger celebration in Mexico.\u00a0So,\u00a0people\u00a0from here travel to\u00a0Mexico\u00a0celebrate\u00a0[Juneteenth]\u00a0too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked what the holiday means to her personally, Tucker echoed the words of the city\u2019s proclamation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means freedom. This year\u2019s theme is exactly what it means to me and\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0Fourth of July freed the land, but Juneteenth freed the people,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cNo one is free unless all are free.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tucker shared a message for the next generation, emphasizing that celebrating history is the best way to keep hard-won rights alive and well in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"From
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<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCommunity members attend the fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration at Nations Tobin Park on June 13. The event marked the beginning of a month-long series of celebrations honoring African American history and culture in El Paso.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce we stop celebrating and acknowledging our\u00a0freedom,\u00a0we become chained again to what\u2019s happening now in the country, unfortunately, which is\u00a0[that]\u00a0we\u2019re bound in the mind,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cWe\u2019re chained in my mind on feeling like we can only go so far because of what we look like.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The emphasis on passing history down to the next generation was shared by local parents in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would hope that they take away from this\u00a0and\u00a0carry on [by remembering] the history of Juneteenth and how it came to be,\u201d\u00a0attendee\u00a0Makalani\u00a0Waldo\u00a0said. \u201cAlso, unity and coming together as one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Local civic organizations worked behind the scenes to support the gathering, including the\u00a0El Paso Holy Royal Arch Chapter No. 90<\/a>, which provided free\u00a0hot dogs\u00a0and drinks\u00a0to attendees.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Billy Michaels, a member of the chapter,\u00a0said\u00a0that the festival has grown\u00a0tremendously\u00a0over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a great opportunity for the African American community to really come together in a safe place and recognize the trials and tribulations that they went through over those years,\u201d Michaels said. \u201cEvery year it\u2019s gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. I\u2019m looking for a bigger crowd next year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Johnson\u00a0noted the profound personal and historic significance of the day as El Paso\u2019s first Black mayor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRecognizing Juneteenth and celebrating it here in El Paso is certainly something that I look forward to,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBeing the first Black mayor here in El Paso, it means a lot in a celebration like this.\u00a0It talks to what we\u2019ve done, and so I\u2019m so proud of El Paso.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"From
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<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFamilies and community members participate in the fourth annual Juneteenth Celebration at Nations Tobin Park on June 13. Organizers said the event aims to preserve and pass down the history and meaning of Juneteenth to future generations.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

For Johnson, hosting the festival at Nations Tobin Park was also a homecoming, having grown up in Northeast El Paso and\u00a0being\u00a0Andress\u00a0High School\u00a0alumnus.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnson also delivered regards from\u00a0City Manager Dionne Mack,<\/a>\u00a0noting that the city is currently led by both its first Black mayor and its first Black city manager.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The multicultural turnout at the park reflected the event\u2019s core mission of community unity, drawing praise from local faith leaders in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot because you have all different\u00a0type of walks\u00a0[of life],\u201d\u00a0Pastor Shelton Kelley\u00a0of the\u00a0St. Peter Missionary Baptist Church<\/a>\u00a0said. \u201cYou have African Americans, you have Hispanics\u00a0you have Caucasians, and we\u2019re all coming together to celebrate the independence of the actual nation. Even though it was the independence of Black people\u00a0that\u2019s what Juneteenth is about, but it was really the independence of everyone because the whole nation was finally free.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the hundreds of El Pasoans who\u00a0attended the event, the day was more than just a weekend festival. By bringing together city leaders, history makers\u00a0and young children, the event\u00a0aimed\u00a0to pass\u00a0the\u00a0torch to a new generation, ensuring that the story of Juneteenth will remain a permanent, vibrant part of El Paso\u2019s identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adrian Gonzalez Jr. is a contributor for The Prospector and may be reached at\u202f[email\u00a0protected]<\/a>\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The El Paso Parks and Recreation Department, in partnership with the local nonprofit\u00a0Black El Paso Voice, hosted its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139],"class_list":["post-343713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}