Clockwise by Photo: Adena Ishii advising a Berkeley citizen, Sanipah Gandhi, Lynne Engelskirchen, Bob MacDonald, Christine Wenrich, Lynne Engelskirchen, Ruby MacDonald, Susan Russell, Linda Carothers, Maggie Goodman, Elise Mills, and Kandea Mosley.

Hundreds turned out on Saturday, June 16th to enjoy a beautiful 2019 Juneteenth celebration in Berkeley’s Lorin District on Father’s Day.

To maximize participation at Berkeley’s official commemoration of when the last enslaved African Americans learned of their emancipation, the start and end times were moved to 11 am to 6 pm.

The holiday, which was started in Galveston, Texas to celebrate the end of slavery, began  two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation – and word that slavery had ended spread throughout the Confederate South.

Throughout the day at Berkeley’s Juneteenth, tables of vendors, food sellers, civic organizations and entertainers stretched along Adeline and MLK Streets for the pleasure of the cosmopolitan crowd.

Among the civic organizations was LWVBAE, registering and re-registering voters and passing out flyers urging support of the Schools and Communities First! measure that will be on the Nov. 2020 ballot.