(peaceful music) (upbeat music) - Greetings everybody from "Black Nouveau" and welcome to the 51st Annual Juneteenth Festival.

I am Earl Arms, and I'm so grateful to share this moment with all of you out there at home.

This is one of the biggest celebrations of freedom for African Americans that the city has ever had.

We're talking about thousands of people here on MLK Drive.

More than 300 vendors and a beautiful day to celebrate freedom.

- Happy Juneteenth, happy Father's Day to everybody.

- [Earl] For the first time in years, there was no rain (presenter speaks) to dampen the Juneteenth setup.

In anticipation of a record crowd, there was also a record number of vendors setting up shop.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- [Earl] The Juneteenth parade would be bigger than ever, taking over three hours.

As usual, Civil War re-enactors would be at its head.

- I'm here to celebrate Juneteenth, marching in the parade to bring awareness of the black soldiers that participated in the Civil War.

The 29th Infantry Company F is the first black unit from Wisconsin that mustered out of Milwaukee for the Civil War.

And what we are doing is bringing awareness of that unit.

During the 19th century, a lot of the participation of the black soldiers was erased out of American history.

And what we are doing today is bringing back awareness for the kids, the women, the men, and the whole country to receive the credit that the black soldiers did during the civil war.

- The women followed behind the soldiers.

And once they made encampment, the women would come on camp and they were the nurses, the launders, the cooks on camp.

- Our unit represents the 29th infantry, which was mustered out of the Midwest, Milwaukee, Illinois.

It's very important, not just to army and Black history, but also Wisconsin history.

You know, one ninth of the state of Wisconsin turned out for service during the war.

I, personally, play a white officer who would have volunteered for this position.

They chose people who were either abolitionists, or sons of clergy, or other abolitionist people, because they wanted someone who would care for their soldiers.

These new Black infantry units that were mustered, not just treat them like cannon fodder.

- Happy Juneteenth Day.

- Happy Juneteenth Day.

(upbeat music) (crowds cheering) (drums pounding) (nose squeaking) (man cheers) (soulful music) (trap music) (crowd chattering) (carriage clattering) (cars honking) - Happy Juneteenth Day!

Happy Juneteenth Day!

I am John Jefferson, Colonel Eight, Wisconsin.

Thank you.

(soulful music) (crowd cheering) - Say hi, safety dog!

- Happy Juneteenth!

(crowd chattering) (cars honking) ♪ S-I-G-M-A ♪ ♪ G-A-M-M-A ♪ ♪ R-H-O ♪ ♪ Whoo, Sigma Gamma Rho ♪ ♪ I love it, I love it, I love it ♪ (crowd chattering) (soulful music) - Hey, hey!

♪ I want y'all ♪ ♪ to listen, listen ♪ To listen, listen!

(drums pounding) (crowd chattering) (exciting music) (crowd cheering) (soulful music) - Celebrate Juneteenth by reminding myself about the constant struggle for African Americans in this country and how much we have accomplished and how much we need to strive to make sure that it is an equitable and just system in our society.

(upbeat music) - [Uzei] The opening ceremony spoke to the importance of children on this Father's Day.

- Everyone.

Thank you very much for being here to celebrate us, our African American culture, our history, all the things that we want everyone to know, especially our children.

You see our children here?

This is our future.

This is why we have to constantly remind people of who we are.

The power that we have as a people.

- [Uzei] And then it was time to meet Mr. And Ms. Juneteenth 2022.

- Hi, my name is Terei Alise Mims.

I am 17 years old and I am a senior at Milwaukee Lutheran High School.

At Milwaukee Lutheran, I participate in speech and debate, forensics, theater, and I'm the student body president.

Outside of Milwaukee Lutheran, I'm a participant of Future Urban Leaders, as well as Top Teens of America, and I currently serve as the chapter president.

Beyond high school, I plan to attend Georgia State University and earn my Bachelors of Arts in Media and Film.

And one day, I hope to represent my community through my writing and inspire so many other people to take opportunities and to lead.

Thank you.

- Hello.

My name is Kyon Myles.

I currently attend Dominican High School as a freshman, but in the fall, I'll be a sophomore.

My plans after high school are going to a HBCU and also doing real estate.

Thank you.

(upbeat music) - On June 19th, 1865, Major General George Grainger told the enslaved population of Galveston, Texas, that they were free.

But freedom for African Americans did not come easily at the end of the civil war.

Joining me to discuss the nature of our struggle for freedom is historian Dr.

Rob Smith.

Dr. Smith, thanks for joining us.

- Glad to be here, as always, James.

- So, how far have we regressed?

- You know, that's a really interesting question.

And I think the first thing we have to do is interrogate the we.

Who is the we, if we, if we're talking about African Americans, African Americans have haven't regressed in that struggle.

In fact, that struggle has been, become more sophisticated.

It's engaged digital technology.

It's engaged a global community of Black people around some fundamental principles associated with black liberation.

And we can talk about those in a little bit more detail.

I think if we get into the we and the regress, we're talking about our nation, our nation's political institution, our governmental structure, that's where we've seen the regression.

And the regression has been fueled, and promoted, in so many ways, by this continual commitment to white supremacy.

And I wanna make sure to be clear with folks what I mean by that.

This is a term that races from the 19th century through the 20th century has used to define themselves, white supremacists.

And so, we see immediately after the election of Barack Obama, a significant uptick in these organizations, and their rhetoric, and their hostility.

We also see that, continuing throughout his presidency, in very offensive and abusive ways.

And of course, with the emergence of Donald Trump and his base, we've seen just the unleashing of naked white supremacy that has led to significant forms of violence.

It's led to this, these digital communities that are helping to ferment that kind of racial aggression and hostility.

So, when we think about regressing, Black people, in terms of our commitment to equality, has not regressed at all.

What we've seen is a regression on the part of our government to do a better job of dealing with this kind of naked white supremacy.

- Well, what is this naked white supremacy protecting?

- Well, there's obviously this longstanding belief that somehow another, the United States is reserved for people of European descent, white people more generally.

Meanwhile, we're, we are on the land of folks who we don't do a better, do a good enough job recognizing indigenous culture and indigenous history.

First and foremost, we all need to do a better job with that.

And so when we, when we think about what's being protected, it's this, this fictive notion around these racial hierarchies that have been codified, but this fictive notion that whites are supposed to be at the top of those hierarchies.

And as a result, what you get is the effort to protect political power by denying various populations, particularly African Americans, more access to the political process through voting, and also more political power.

We've seen the truncating of economic opportunities in significant ways.

We've seen the massive, full on, onslaught of our criminal legal system.

So we see the protecting played out in these political arenas that then, continually remind us that that march toward equality, that very fundamental conversation that Juneteenth dares us to engage is critical, is important.

We have to continually come back to it.

I think that's why we've seen the resurgence, in some ways, in the way that Juneteenth has become so important, not only for African Americans, but for a national conversation.

- Declaring Juneteenth a federal holiday, does that change the conversation, If any, or at all?

- No, we were gonna celebrate it anyway on our terms.

And that's what's beautiful about Juneteenth, What's beautiful about this particular holiday, it was, it's a homegrown holiday.

It's moved with us as we've moved across the country.

It's looked different in different locales.

It's looked different in different regions of the country, but it comes back to this fundamental question of how we determine our own sense of liberation and our own identities as American citizens.

- We're getting short on time, but what's the one thing that needs to happen to sort of change this conversation?

- Well, it, I don't know that we can come up with one thing, but if that, if I were to pick one thing, we have to all become more and more politically engaged.

If you haven't been, it's time to be.

If you've already been, you have to be more politically aware and politically astute.

We have to be willing to engage in that political conversation and the political process to get the necessary political power to change the circumstances.

Otherwise, we are going to continually have to face these kinds of issues, direct violence associated with white supremacy.

- Well, this is definitely a conversation we're gonna continue online.

Thanks for joining us.

- Glad to be here.

Thank you for having me.

(upbeat music) - [Everett] Last year's 50th anniversary celebration proved to be a big success.

- We had new events.

Kid Zone at Martin Luther King Elementary.

The kids had a carnival and rides and petting zoo.

So parents were able to drop their kids off, and enjoy the rest of the festival.

(upbeat music) - [Everett] And the kid zone will continue to be a big part of Juneteenth.

(upbeat music) - [Uzei] Juneteenth attendees had a record number of booths to visit.

- Well, my father had been doing this thing for over, about 30 years now.

And he has a business in Chicago.

He used to be here, but now he retired, and he sent me and my brother to come, still come and represent.

- [Uzei] Food was good and plentiful.

- I think it's tender.

(laughs) - It's tender!

- If you smell good food, go try it.

- That's my ministry, feeding God's people.

I love to see people smile.

You know, I love to see 'em smile.

- [Interviewer] And how you think food does that?

- Oh, it, if, my food.

I ain't worried about it.

'Cause once you chase my food, I got you.

You check it, you break it.

Off the bone, off the bone.

If it do not come off the bone, I get your money back.

(indistinct), try me!

- [Uzei] Many of the vendors were service oriented.

(crowd chattering) - The initial purpose of the league of Martin is to allow more African Americans, women, and female, and other minorities to get on police department.

In a time back in 1970s, when it was a little difficult for us to actually get on here, Arthur Jones started the organization and it's still flourishing today.

It's imperative that we have diversity in our community.

Our community needs to reflect the police department and vice versa.

And we have to have all denominations, and races, religion, different belief systems on this police department, 'cause that's what we represent, the star on the Christmas tree.

And we represent equal rights for everyone.

- We have so many resources that we offer.

But one of the, one of our main focuses is to prevent homelessness, okay?

We assist with getting people, getting people paid up, getting tenants paid up, and keeping them paid up.

We offer employment resources.

We even offer clothing banks for interviews.

We even offer a fatherhood program.

(crowd chattering) - Our mission today is to support the LGBTQ community and health equity.

And today, specifically, we are here to let Black, queer people know that they are loved and supported, and know that there's an organization specifically looking to uplift them, specifically.

So we come here to let them know and to shout it out, that it is okay to be gay and it's okay to be queer.

And it's okay to be Black and proud.

- We encourage people who are really interested in the humanity of our prisoners and our system to come forward and, and help out.

Right now, we are concentrating on academics for the young people, the ones that are in the incarcerated situation, because usually when they go in, they have all kinds of problems.

One of 'em, they are illiterate.

And unfortunately, when they come out, unless we actually get something going, they're gonna be illiterate and in back up in our system.

So we view academics as a way of reducing recidivism.

(upbeat music) - Hello, everybody.

We are here at Juneteenth and I'm joined by a special guest.

We have from Black Arts MKE, Ms. Barbara Wanzo, the Executive Director of Black Arts MKE.

Thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you for inviting us.

- Oh, for sure.

So first off, just talk about Juneteenth.

You're from Milwaukee.

We were just talking about what it means to us.

So tell the folks at home what Juneteenth means to you when being here.

- Well, I think we all know what the holiday means, but I, you know, being of the culture, it's very special, but it's also very cool to know that all across the country, you know, cities like Milwaukee are celebrating the emancipation of slavery, and it's very special.

We don't have many events that I consider cultural bedrock in Milwaukee.

It's one of the reasons our company was started, Black Arts MKE, because we need to build more cultural bedrock in this city.

- So, talk about what you're building and what you have going on.

I understand a film festival is happening.

So, talk about that.

- [Barbara] Yup.

Yup, Black Arts MKE was founded in 2014 to increase, our mission is to increase the availability and quality of Black arts and culture in the city.

And we have our Milwaukee Black Theater Festival coming up in August, August 10th through the 14th.

And for the first time we're pushing that into the community.

So not only at our home and the Marcus center, we're going to be using the Vocational Table Center on 53rd and Capital.

We'll also be at MAID, right down the road.

So, just getting it out and making it more accessible.

And it will feature, this year, will feature some very special themes.

It's about the Black family, Generation Speak.

And we are going to be having theater, having to deal with all the issues Black families are dealing with.

Gun violence, and bullying, and all of that.

So it's a very special year for us.

And then we're gonna have a very fun, and I should mention that these events are free to the community this year.

We will have a very fun fundraiser.

We are, again, celebrating all the Black families of R&B and gospel.

So, that will be at the Marcus center.

So, support us.

- And we have something going on for the youth, too.

Talk about that.

- Yes.

In July, every year we do our performing arts youth camp.

It's for youth that are ages 12 to 18, and they learn all aspects of musical theater, but we let the students control their voice.

I mean, we want them to really tell us what they're thinking.

Sometimes we do devised works, but the last two years of the pandemic, we wanted the youth to use their authentic voices.

And they do that with music, choreography, rap, hip-hop, you name it.

- Absolutely.

- It's fun.

It's a fun camp.

- Absolutely.

So if folks wanna learn more about Black Arts MKE or get involved, how do they do that?

- They can either go to blackartsmke.org.

If they happen to be watching this and they have a flyer, they can scan it, use the QR code to see the digital program, or they can give us a call.

- Awesome.

Well, it's Ms. Barabara Wanzo with Black Arts MKE.

Thank you so much for joining us.

- My pleasure.

- And happy Juneteenth to you.

- Thank you, same to you.

- Alright.

(upbeat music) - I am honored to be involved with Juneteenth and honored to be involved with the Entertainment Committee.

As far as bringing back the blues and jazz series that we're bringing back this year.

(camera clicks) - [Everett] For decades, Pat A. Robinson has been one of a few African American photographers to chronicle life in Milwaukee's African American community.

His pictures have been seen around the world.

He's one of the featured artists in the Mahogany Gallery's Juneteenth Retrospective.

The ongoing exhibit honors the 40 year plus tradition of celebrating Juneteenth in Milwaukee and Racine.

- I think I first heard about Juneteenth, I was in high school, so about '73, '74.

And I always had this interest in photo journalism.

So, I took the dad's camera and started going down and started shooting around Juneteenth.

- [Everett] One of his early remembrances was with the minister at the festival.

- So when I walked up to 'em most people shy away from the camera, but he straightened his self out.

He made sure his books were all straight, as straight as they could be.

And he just stood there without saying a word.

And I took my picture, "It's okay."

I took the picture when I was a teenager.

So I was kind of nervous at first, because here's his guy telling me it's okay to take his picture.

And then I said, "Okay, thank you."

And that was it.

- [Everett] His favorite Juneteenth photo involves Milwaukeean and world champion NBA player, Kevon Looney.

- There's a crowd of people.

And I notice a kid jumping up and down in a crowd.

I'm like, what is he doing?

So I get closer.

And then I see that he's trying to jump up as high as Looney.

And he actually gets up there.

He's like six, nine, the kid's about five feet, three.

So, and I, and everybody loves that picture.

- [Everett] Robinson will share his experiences and thoughts about life, art, and his career on Saturday, June 25th at the Mahogany Gallery in Racine.

(upbeat music) - Thank you, Tony, Northcott Neighborhood House for putting this on every single year.

Give it up for Tony Kearney.

Give it up for Beth Coggs.

Give it up for Northcott Neighborhood House.

- [Everett] Beyond planning the Juneteenth celebration, Northcott Neighborhood House has a long history of serving its community.

It operates a food pantry, provides a safe place for activities for the young and old, it rebuilds and rehabs homes for the poor, and office training and certification for job skills.

- Giving them food, giving them a place for their kids to come.

Those, those were all great things.

But, seeing people unemployed or underemployed, our training programs were designed to give them a solid skill set that led to a life sustaining job.

You know, not just, "Hey, I can afford to take care of my family."

No, "I feel good about myself and where I go to work.

And I have these credentials."

So we have an arborist training program that, in collaboration with Milwaukee Area Technical College, they walk away with three licenses plus college credits.

And, there's a great need for arborists in this community.

We have two orchards, which we are working on, and we just recently planted new fruit trees in them.

They already had apple trees that were blossoming.

Now, we are adding peach trees and some cherry trees.

So, our arborist trainees are taking care of that.

- [Everett] But by far, the most time consuming activity is the planning for Juneteenth.

- We prepare for Juneteenth all year long, because it is important to our history, our culture, and we want to expose other cultures to ours.

As long as we exist, we will be making sure that Juneteenth happens.

(upbeat music) - Hey, everybody out there, this is Juneteenth.

We're having a great time out here on MLK.

And this next person that you're gonna see, we actually hosted this a year ago, but now she joins us in a different capacity.

Alexandria Mack.

- Hello!

- How are you?

You brought a friend with us.

- Yes, a little fussy friend!

- Wow.

Wow, wow.

Talk about motherhood.

First off, congratulations.

- Thank you.

- Happy Juneteenth (baby cries) to you and as she- - Well, you're getting it.

- Shares those tears.

- This is, sums it up.

- Who is our friend here?

Our crying friend.

- This is Gia.

Yes.

She's two months as of yesterday.

- Aw.

Enjoying motherhood thus far?

- I am.

It's been beautiful.

Obviously, it's a new...

Okay.

Okay.

(baby whines) (Earl laughs) It has the moments like this, that can be a little challenging, but overall she's so sweet.

- Absolutely.

- And it's just a new, a new chapter for our family and I, I couldn't be happier.

- Well, what does it mean to have her here and the rest of your family here on Juneteenth, this beautiful holiday that we celebrate here in Milwaukee?

- Well, it's funny 'cause my sister-in-law was just saying that she's never seen so many babies in one place.

Like, everywhere we turn, there's a stroller.

And I feel like I never noticed, like, how many kids actually come out for Juneteenth.

So, it's exciting that, like, parents, myself included, like, want to share this day.

Ooh!

With our babies, no matter how fussy they are.

(Alexandria and Earl laugh) - So we had to send Gia aside for some extra TLC.

- No, my baby.

- But, no, Alexandria, talk about, you know, one of the things about motherhood that you may have not expected to come, but you're now experiencing with Gia.

- Before motherhood, it was, I was moving on my own time.

So if I wanted to get up and go, I could get up and go.

Now, I'm very much on her schedule.

So I sleep when she sleeps, I eat after she's eating.

If we're walking out the door and she is like, "I am not feeling it," then I'm not feeling it either.

So, just adjusting to putting another person before myself has been an adjustment.

- Adjusting, but loving it, nonetheless.

- Yes.

- I'm assuming, right?

- Oh, yes.

Wouldn't change it at all.

Like, I don't, I didn't know it was possible to love another human being so much, outside of my husband.

But even then, it's like, oh my goodness.

I wanna eat her every day, I'm just like, I wanna eat her right now.

How can we do this?

Like, why is she so cute?

Ugh.

Love it.

- What's the best part about motherhood?

- Just her little face.

Like, you just find the energy.

Like, I could be dog tired, like, only slept for two hours, and I'm gonna find the energy to take care of her.

Like, and her little smile will make it all worth it.

Just laughing at the little things that she does, like, is just the little moments matter so much.

And I've even like cried thinking of, like, the way I love her.

Like, I can't believe my mom and my dad, like, love me this much.

It's, like, puts it all into perspective.

- Alexandria Mack, thank you for joining us.

Congratulations once again, and happy Juneteenth to you.

- Yes.

Thank you.

- Alright.

(upbeat music) Of course, Juneteenth is now a national holiday, it's being celebrated on the federal level, all the way down to the local level here in Milwaukee.

And while we are celebrating, here's to remembering why we celebrate.

For everyone on the Black Nouveau team and Milwaukee PBS, I'm Earl Arms.

Have a happy Juneteenth.

(upbeat music)