Juneteenth Block party at African American Museum in Philadelphia ends early due to severe weather
The Juneteenth Block Party at the African American Museum in Philadelphia was forced to end early Thursday due to severe weather.
The holiday celebration was temporarily paused for roughly 30 minutes around 3 p.m. and patrons returned before another round of storms cancelled the event entirely.
Before the severe weather, about 1,000 people showed up at the block party to celebrate the holiday.
It was a showcase of unity with people from all walks of life in attendance.
"It's awesome to see our people and everybody come together for a common cause," said Chris Nelson from Morton.
"During this political climate, where there's a lot of divisiveness, an event like [this] highlights the history of [Juneteenth] and also brings us together as a people. The importance of togetherness, the importance of us having the opportunity to share music," said Dr. Kendrah Butler-Waters from Glenside.
The celebration included vendors of all kinds, food trucks and interactive activities for kids.
It also featured several performances that ended with a set from DJ Drama. More artists were scheduled to perform, but never took the stage because of the storms.
Ameerah K was one of the vendors at the celebration. She is an artist whose work is inspired by Black entertainers. She said it was important for her to be a part of the event.
"It's important that we continue to embrace events like this that celebrate diversity and celebrate just how unique the history of Black people are and how far we've come," she said.
As part of the Juneteenth celebration, admission to the African American Museum was also free.
Arcina Henry stood in the long line of people waiting to get in.
She said she believes the day is worth celebrating, but she also believes it should be a day of reflection to learn from the past.
"A lot of times with our culture, we don't know as much about ourselves as we should. This is a holiday that we should have been celebrating years ago, but we were not aware of it. Now that we've come into the light, we have to make it what it needs to be and we have to continue to spread the word and the significance of Juneteenth," Henry said.
