Rochester NAACP branch hosts its annual Juneteenth celebration

(ABC 6 NEWS) – Juneteenth, a day to honor the emancipated slaves back in 1865 here in America. Now in 2022 it is a day to celebrate diversity and those emancipated slaves.

"That’s essentially when enslaved Africans were freed in America and since then, this is a date to really commemorate the ending of slavery and also just a celebration of African American culture," said Rochester NAACP branch president Wale Elegbde,

And it wouldn’t be a celebration without crowning a mister and miss Juneteenth honored for the service in the community with a one thousand scholarship for college expenses.

"It means a lot because it really means that I’m representing for Juneteenth and showing a good example of what people should be doing and being a good role model and I feel like that’s a big thing," said Mr. Juneteenth 2022 Jub Ogak.

"It’s a way to like I think commemorate my ancestors for all the work that they did to help freedom in our country," said Miss Juneteenth 2022 Shukri Dahir.

Last June president Joe Biden made Juneteenth an official federal holiday. And just like any holiday many have their own meaning to the special day.

"It’s a great sign of strength of the black race and it means to me how much we’ve overcame and how much progress we’ve made since the beginning," said Dahir.

"To me in means a lot cause we’re celebrating our ancestors who did the good for us back then, got freedom and got us to where we are now in the community," said Ogak.

Todays event feature many guest speakers live music plenty of food and some local Rochester businesses who came out here to celebrate Juneteenth.