SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of people celebrated Juneteenth in downtown Salt Lake City on Friday, gathering for a community walk from the Utah State Capitol to The Gateway and an event organizers say has become one of Utah’s largest celebrations of Black culture and entrepreneurship.
The sixth annual Salt Lake Juneteenth celebration featured music, food, art, roller skating and a Black Business Expo with more than 60 vendors.
What began in 2021 as an effort to support Black-owned businesses during the pandemic has continued to grow.
“As you probably know, a lot of small businesses were failing at that time, but black owned businesses were specifically failing at an exponentially higher rate. So, we wanted to see how we can support the development of those businesses,” said organizer Cleopatra Louise Balfour.
Today, she said many business owners look forward to the holiday event as it has become one of the biggest Juneteenth celebrations in the state.
“Many of our businesses say that this is our highest selling sales day of the year,” Balfour said.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved people in Texas learned they had been freed, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
The holiday became a federal holiday in 2021 and is now the nation’s newest federal holiday.
“It is important. It’s a holiday for all Americans to celebrate because what it is, is it’s celebrating the progress that we’ve made as a nation,” Balfour said.
Among the dozens of vendors at The Gateway was Esther Kasue, owner of EMK Kreations, who specializes in paintings, color stencils and custom shoe designs inspired by her family’s Kenyan heritage.
“My mom always said that to me to never forget where I come from and that your family and your culture is what makes you who you are,” said Kasue.
Kasue, who grew up in Draper, but whose parents are from Kenya, said her artwork is inspired by where her parents are from.
“It’s interesting having parents that were raised in a completely different culture,” she said. “My pieces are paying homage to where they’re from and not forgetting where I come from.”
She said events like Juneteenth create opportunities for conversations that might not happen otherwise.
“Some people come in and look at my pieces. They think it’s really pretty, but then they ask if it’s inappropriate for them to buy it or put it in their home. I say no, I want you… I would love for you to take it and it’s just that discomfort because they’ve never had that conversation,” she said.
Kasue feels events like this Juneteenth celebration help people connect with experiences outside of their own.
“Especially in Utah, where there’s not a lot of that culture, that it’s very important to share and have these kinds of events where they can see things that are not a part of the Utah bubble,” she said.
Organizers said they hope the event continues to grow, not only as a celebration of Juneteenth but also as a place where people from all backgrounds can gather, learn from one another and support local businesses and artists.
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