Neighbors celebrate Juneteenth in Southfield

SOUTHFIELD — The city of Southfield is home to a number of events that celebrate and recognize the national Juneteenth holiday.

This includes one event put on just by residents in their own backyards.

Residents in a Southfield neighborhood have been putting on a Juneteenth celebration for the past few years in the backyards of six neighboring yards. Juneteenth is celebrated each year on June 19 and commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. in 1865.

Patricia Jones, president of the Juneteenth Jubilee Committee, said the event began in 2021 while people were still dealing with social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Everybody had cabin fever and we all like to work in our yard. So social distancing, we’re always talking to each other and so forth, and we decided, well, why don’t we have a dinner, a Juneteenth celebration for our families, just social distancing and we’ll all do it in each other’s yards (and) kind of talk over the fence,” she said. “That’s what we started, and since then it has grown from maybe about 30 people to about 100 people.”

The six families meet each year to plan the event, which took place on June 14 for the fourth year.

The event each year starts with a program explaining what Juneteenth is with speakers, followed by a dinner, games and ending in a fireworks display.

Ledell Griffin III, son of one of the organizers, Ledell Griffin, spoke this year about the meaning of Juneteeth.

“What this day means to me is that it let people have an equal say in the country with being able to realize that any race, any kind, they can have something that if they participate in the country, it’ll help them to feel like they’re needed in the country,” he said.

Jones said the growth of the event has been great as people each year get excited for the festivities.

“The yards are open to everybody so all the neighbors, we get together and we’re just going fellowshipping and going from yard to yard and just enjoying each other and the holiday in itself,” she said.

On the meaning of Juneteenth for her, Jones said the day is historic and important for people to know and understand.

“Lincoln emancipated the slaves in 1863, but Galveston, Texas, didn’t get the message until ’65 and so through whatever the reason, they did not get the message or they were withheld from the information,” she said.

“We feel it’s necessary that we celebrate, continue our history, continue our legacies through stories, through community, through food and just enjoy each other and pass this information on to our younger people so that they can continue it as well.”