The City of San Diego not only commemorated the federal holiday, but proclaimed June 19th, a city holiday.
“When Africans were taken from the shores of their continent so were their freedoms,” Todd Gloria, San Diego Mayor said.
The flag that represents the end of slavery in the U.S. also serves as a reminder of the work that lies ahead.
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Gloria said the fight isn’t over.
“Rest assured, we as a city and a nation will come together, to honor these past fights, and to commit ourselves to a fair and more equitable future,” he said.
District 4 Councilmember, Monica Montgomery, spoke about the importance of preserving the culture of African Americans.
“Cause I come from people who came through slavery. I came through people who built this country and without them, America would not be the superpower it is today,” she said.
Local civil rights activists also gathered with the San Diego Unified School District to celebrate the day.
The district raised a Juneteenth flag at the Eugene Brucker Center Friday morning, making it the only district in the state to raise one.
SDUSD’s board president Richard Barrera says the district has been making efforts to incorporate lessons about Juneteenth in the district’s curriculum.
“As we look and see who’s represented in the flags that fly in our district we are starting to see our entire community and all of our students represented here in our flag poles,” Barrera said.
