Orange County Rings in Juneteenth

Today celebrates the day that the last of the enslaved African Americans were freed — Juneteenth.

“Juneteenth means freedom. I mean, this was our liberty. This was our freedom,” said Earl Dearing, 90, a Corona resident who attended a weekend festival in Santa Ana celebrating the holiday. 

“Fourth of July really doesn’t mean anything because we weren’t free on the fourth of July,” Dearing said. “This is our Fourth of July.”

The federal holiday established in 2021 by President Joe Biden commemorates the last enslaved African Americans were freed on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation

Families, couples and youth gathered under the Santa Ana sun last weekend to ring in the holiday at the 2025 Juneteenth Festival in Centennial Regional Park. 

The festival featured live music performances, food vendors, car show, a children’s area and community booths offering information on health and Black history.

[Read: Santa Ana Juneteenth Festival Returns]

The festival can act as a place of learning for attendees that didn’t grow up knowing about Juneteenth.

“It’s important for all of us to be in fellowship, and we want to make sure that people know their history as well,” said Helen Woods, founder of Genealogical Research Group who was at the group’s festival booth.

Woods, 66, said she did not learn about Juneteenth growing up.

Others felt that the festival’s atmosphere brought the community together amidst times of suffering locally spurred by ongoing immigration raids. 

[Read: Immigration Sweeps Hit a Santa Ana Neighborhood on Father’s Day

[Read: Orange County Hits the Streets, Rails Against ICE Sweeps]

“[Juneteenth] means freedom and equality,” said Nicole Carpenter, 44, at the festival. “It is actually mainstream now and  people are actually talking about it. Before It was something in the background like they barely made it a federal holiday.”

“We’re here for the people.”

“Celebrations like this are good to bring the community together, especially during these times of suffering,” said Sinatra Washington, 66, who said he didn’t learn about Juneteenth until his adulthood from fellow community members. 

“We need to be positive, to sing a little bit, and dance a little bit.”

Families visiting the festival emphasized the importance of passing down culture to their children.

“This is my culture, and being in Orange County, there’s not a lot of that here and so you have to be intentional about bringing them to things like this and they can be surrounded by people who are part of their culture,” said Jenny Willyard, 38, who attended the festival with her husband and their two sons.

Food vendors at the festival also offered attendees a taste of culture. 

“People don’t understand what is going on and what has happened and how we share a history and a backstory,” said Marcel Douglas, owner of Island Spice Tings, which offered Jamaican cuisine such as jerk chicken and oxtail . 

“You know people think that it’s about one set of people, but it includes everyone, and everyone was affected a long time ago, and even currently anything regarding race, color, creed, religion. So it’s good to celebrate and accept people and welcome them into this celebration culturally.” 

“I think [Juneteenth] is representative of the transitional success of the black culture, you know, for a business owner, and this is a generational product,” said Hope McKenzie, a worker at Pucker Up, a lemonade stand founded by Karneisha Christian.

Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. Contact her at etaylor@voiceofoc.org or @camerakeepsrolling.

Josiah Mendoza is a Chapman University Scott Marshutz Fellow. Contact him at josimendoza@chapman.edu