Juneteenth celebrations are in full swing Garden State residents are honoring the profound achievements of African Americans over the last 158 years the federal holiday is observed annually remembering the day when a Union Army General told the last enslaved people in Galveston Texas they were liberated more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery the day is typically marked with Community festivals and educational events Melissa Rose Cooper is in Newark with local organizers who say their event is celebrating freedom but there's still work to be done Melissa Brianna the organizers of today's juneteen celebration say having it here at Harriet Tubman Park pays tribute to the woman who helped free so many Americans for while Juneteenth is a celebration it's also a time to remember its significance yes it is salad we are celebrating freedom but in addition to that it's also a solemn day because because of you know the fact that people didn't actually know they were free that's really a tragedy so for me the way I see it it's an opportunity to educate people it's an opportunity for us to come together as a community and for people to truly understand what systematic racism looks like in this country and how we are rising together so in keeping with traditional African culture we have drummers we have dancers of course we're going to have music we have food and just a few minutes away from Harriet Tubman Park the people's Organization for Progress marking Juneteenth with a rally calling for reparations for African Americans this is the day that we feel is most appropriate to raise the issue of reparations that the descendants of those who were enslaved should be compensated for the stolen labor of our ancestors During the period of enslavement it's an initiative the people's Organization for progress has been pushing for since it was founded 41 years ago right now there's legislation pending in New Jersey as well as on the federal level to create a task force to help determine what form reparation should take but those efforts have stalled it means compensations for the stolen labor of millions of Africans who laid the Primitive accumulation of capital that built this country by that I mean that Free Labor is what enables industry to thrive that in fact in terms of U.S capitalism enslaved people were worth more in their own measurement than all the combined railroads factories Banks it was more value in that human capital than all those things combined uh before the Civil War we had the abolition of slavery but although the Confederacy Was Defeated white supremacy and racism was not defeated and Racial equality racial inequality has really been the order of the day uh since Jim Crow and since the abolition of legal segregation so Jim Crow was abolished legal segregation but we still have what we still have de facto segregation in fact New Jersey is one of the most racially segregated states in the nation I think it ranks Sixth and again this is the result of enslavement in this country uh the type of Jim Crow segregation we had in the north because we had a northern version and the continued racial oppression and inequality that black people face up to the present Advocates say reparations are a needed step to help correct the harm that came from slavery and that's why they're committed to making sure legislation is passed to make it happen in Newark Melissa Rose Cooper NJ Spotlight news [Music] [Music]