Community

Wheeling Juneteenth Celebration Takes On Added Significance

YWCA Wheeling and Wheeling Heritage collaborated to create a video presentation as part of the Wheeling's Juneteenth celebration on Friday, which organizers said took on added significance this year due to recent events.

Owens Brown, the president of the West Virginia chapter of the NAACP, opened the event by recognizing the historical importance of the holiday.

"It was truly the end of slavery in this country," he said, referring to June 19, 1865, when news of the end of legal slavery reached Texas and other parts of the western frontier.

Brown said this year's Juneteenth celebration is especially important, considering the racial tensions that sparked protests across the country in recent weeks.

"Hopefully, this video and this Juneteenth celebration will cause people ... to question the history of why Juneteenth even came about," Brown said.

State Sen. Ryan Weld read a resolution from the West Virginia Senate that officially recognized the Juneteenth celebration in Wheeling and unpacked the history of slavery and abolition in the United States. The resolution pointed out where Wheeling's history and the history of slavery intermingle.

"The City of Wheeling, due to its location along the National Road and the Ohio River, was once a site for slave auctions held at the corner of 10th Street and Market Street," Weld read.

Mayor Glenn Elliott said he was proud that the current city council was the first in Wheeling's history to officially recognize and celebrate Juneteenth, which it did so last year. In a city where segregation existed well into the 1960s, like many other places in the United States, Elliott said he felt it was important to acknowledge "the ugly aspects of Wheeling history." He said this year's celebration is particularly significant in light of the recent death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who was killed while in police custody.

"The events of the last weeks…remind me that it is not enough for people in positions of power and trust in our community to just try not to be racist themselves. We have to all aspire to aggressively stamp out [racism] wherever we can," Elliot said.

Paul Schafer, a pastor at St. Mark Lutheran and a member of the Ohio Valley Ministerial Alliance, spoke about the journey towards ending racism.

"The liberation of the oppressed, while directly benefiting the oppressed, also indirectly benefits us all," Schafer said.

He called the recent protests across the country "holy work" that is important towards ending the "systemic racism and injustice that has corrupted the soul of this country throughout its history."

After his short speech, Schafer also sang a rendition of "Amazing Grace."

The presentation, which was filmed at Towngate Theatre, was broadcast to the public at 6 p.m. on Facebook.

The online event featured several other musical performances by members of the community.

Isiah Alford, a local music artist who goes by the stage name Keez, performed an original song called "The Plight of a Black Man," which highlighted how many in the black community struggle with racism in their daily lives. Alford said he hoped his song could help educate people on the black experience in America. Another local artist, Jay Strothers, or J the Anomaly, performed an original piece called "I Am." The Voices of Praise, a choir from the Macedonia Baptist Church, also performed several gospel songs.

A replay of the video can be found on the Facebook of Wheeling Heritage and Wheeling YWCA.