Hanan Hameen: Juneteenth celebration offers “a lesson of communal love that brings safety and support.”
As Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven (JCGNH) Co-Founder Hanan Hameen watched the Juneteenth flag rise on the Green Monday, she thought back to being a child on the streets of Harlem learning African dance, drinking freshly squeezed lemonade, and feeling safe and free in her community.
Hameen recalled those memories as she helped lead a flag-raising ceremony alongside city Director of Arts, Culture, & Tourism Shamain “Sha” McAllister, Mayor Justin Elicker, Gov. Ned Lamont, and other JCGNH coalition members.
The group also announced upcoming local celebrations for the now-federal holiday marking the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Tex. on June 19, 1865, two months after the end of the Civil War and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Hameen said that celebrations will start as soon as June 14 for Juneteenth Restaurant Week, which will run through June 21 and which will include local Black-owned eateries like Sandra’s Next Generation Soul Food. JCGNH will also host a citywide Juneteenth Jamboree concert on the Green on Friday, June 19, which will include a commemorative short walk honoring the last two enslaved persons sold on the New Haven Green, mother and daughter Lucy and Lois Tritton.
A Juneteenth Village and Marketplace will take place on Saturday, June 20 in partnership with the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, and a 2026 New Haven Hip-Hop Conference will happen on Sunday, June 21.
Artist showcases, community discussions, lots of dancing and singing, and interactive drum and Zumba workshops are the some of the many local activities that JCGNH is inviting the community to participate in over the course of the festivities.
This year marks the 13th annual Juneteenth celebration for New Haven. Those in attendance Monday sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing” before a lineup of speakers took the mic.
“We [African Americans] are this country,” Hameen said Monday. “Juneteenth is part of American History and African American contributions are American history.”
Elicker said that Juneteenth is a moment to reflect on history. He said that there’s still work to do “especially in today’s day when the federal government is working to undermine some of the work, undermine the voting rights and take away the powers that we as a community and country have worked to hold dear.”
Lamont said that sometimes D.C rhetoric “makes it sounds like we’re going backwards, but we’re not going backwards in New Haven, we’re not going backwards in Connecticut.”
McAllister offered final remarks before the flag was raised. She said she is proud that New Haven is “not letting what else is going on in the world stop us from our traditions and showing up as ourselves for the best of our people.”
As the flag was raised Monday, Jazz trumpeter William Fluker played Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.”
Hameen said her vision for these Juneteenth celebrations is based on her childhood experiences of attending street festivals where she was able to hang out with friends, support local vendors, enjoy homemade fish plates, and participate in talent shows.
“When the support is all around you and for us by us, there’s a lesson of communal love that brings safety and support,” she said. “When you get to experience the feeling of being around your community knowing nothing can happen to you, just protection and being seen, shows you that you belong.”
Sha McAllister: New Haven is “not letting what else is going on in the world stop us from our traditions and showing up as ourselves.”
Anstress Farwell and Alder Angel Hubbard talk about a Hill documentary screening that will occur June 18 at the Flint Street Theater.
New Haven’s Juneteenth flag flies high.
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