Culture & Community | Juneteenth | Arts & Culture | New Haven Green | Community Heroes
Top: Marcey Lynn Teague, Iman Hameen, Alder Troy Streater, Dr. Hanan Hameen, Erik Clemons, Diane X. Brown, William Fluker, and Lisa Bellamy Fluker. Bottom: Brown and Hameen. Jarelis Calderon Photos.
Erik Clemons didn’t plan to receive any sort of recognition when he headed to the Green Saturday, to honor his friends and colleagues William and Lisa Bellamy Fluker.
Neither did the Flukers, when they headed there to honor their good friend, Erik Clemons.
Neither did Dixwell/Newhallville/Prospect Hill Alder Troy Streater, who thought that he was there to honor both of them.
Their shared surprise, when all of them had a moment in the spotlight, was one of many joyful, sun-soaked moments Saturday afternoon, as the Official Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven hosted its now-annual, days-long Juneteenth Village and Marketplace on the New Haven Green. A collaboration with the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, the event brought hundreds of New Haveners to the Green, to celebrate in community together.
Juneteenth recognizes the emancipation of enslaved Black people in Galveston, Tex. on June 19, 1865, a full two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The date marked the formal end of chattel slavery in the United States. It did not mark the end of the economic enslavement and disenfranchisement of Black Americans, which continues today.
“We’re very intentional in our programming,” said Dr. Hanan Hameen, who has worked to grow the event for more than a decade. “We’re very intentional about who we bring in because we want to make sure that whoever’s coming in is presenting something healthy that’s going to help empower and improve the wealth capacity of our community.”
And indeed, the event transformed the New Haven Green into a lively community space filled with music, food, and local vendors, drawing a diverse crowd of families, youth, and residents throughout the day. Attendees moved between performances, vendor booths, and food trucks while engaging with the activities across the lawn.
Coalition member Sun Queen shows off her henna. Abiba Biao Photo.
Throughout the event, people gathered to learn African drumming, practice dance across a diaspora, record moments, and spend time together. Early in the day, drums rang out over the space as Baba Brian Jawara Gray ushered in an afternoon of performance. As the afternoon continued, workshops and performances like Capoeira Esperança, Soca gym sessions, and Zumba kept people on their feet and moving.
Nowhere, perhaps, was the mood more buoyant than early in the evening, as coalition members presented Clemons, Streater, and the Flukers with recognition for their work in New Haven, which has ranged from economic development to arts education to public office.
“I felt surprised. I felt a little embarrassed, but also incredibly honored,” said Clemons, who a day before had welcomed First Haven to the Dixwell neighborhood with members of the Connecticut Center for Arts & Technology (ConnCAT) and its for-profit subsidiary, the Connecticut Community Outreach Revitalization Program (ConnCORP).
Saturday, he thought he was coming to the Green to read a city proclamation for Fluker, a music educator who has built up the music program at Davis Academy for Arts and Design Innovation, and teaches in the after-school and summer youth programs at ConnCAT, and his wife, the gospel singer and artist Lisa Bellamy Fluker. Then when he arrived, Coalition members surprised him with a proclamation of his own.
Clemons at Saturday's recognition. Jarelis Calderon Photo.
“Incredibly blessed, fortunate and loved,” is how Clemons felt when he learned that he, too, would be receiving an honor, he said—particularly on a holiday weekend dedicated to the liberation of Black Americans.
As the President and CEO of ConnCAT and the CEO of ConnCORP, Clemons’ work is rooted in self-determination, hope, and helping others recognize their own strengths, he said. He added that much of his work focuses on workforce and youth development, including addressing poverty through programs that aim to “tap into the very special gifts and talents of every person.”
Reflecting on Juneteenth, Clemons said the holiday represents perseverance and freedom, emphasizing that “if they're free, then I’m free.” He added that events like Saturday’s village are important because they bring people together across generations to learn about the history of Juneteenth, and to better understand themselves and one another.
Looking ahead, Clemons said his goal is simple: “Love as many people as I can.”
Dr. Hanan Hameen sporting a duster designed by Teague on Friday. Abiba Biao Photo.
Hameen, who with members of the Juneteenth Coalition has grown the celebration into a full weekend of programming, said this year’s national Juneteenth theme, “Our health is our wealth,” shaped every part of the event, from a Friday night history lesson, elder honoring ceremony and concert to a panel about hip hop on Sunday. For her, the focus extends beyond physical health: she also wants to make sure that mental, cultural, and environmental well-being are part of the conversation.
“What are we consuming with our ears, our minds?” she said, noting that organizers were intentional about the music, workshops, and vendors featured throughout the day. “People are holding each other’s babies and vendors are sharing tents. It’s love. It’s truly pure love.”
And it was. Beneath one of several vendor tents, Toyah Wiggins highlighted wellness and culture through her Moyi Glow Beauty Collection, a Black-owned, Bridgeport-based perfume and oil brand. For Wiggins, who works a day job as a licensed clinical social worker, beauty is about more than just smelling good: she created the business to combine self-care, mental wellness, and her Caribbean and Black American heritage.
Her table featured imported African perfume oils, incense, and sage, products she described as meant to help people feel confident, grounded, and connected to culture.
Top: Neema, Nathalie, Nuria, Kenson, and Kibali O'Donald of SemOD Afrique. Abiba Biao Photo. Bottom: Toyah Wiggins. Jarelis Calderon Photo.
The evening before, that momentum had also been in full force. As attendee Genell S. walked across the Green, she stopped to carefully inspect each table's offerings. With the goal of “showing love back to the community,” she was on the hunt for handmade and natural self-care items like black soap, honey, and shea butter, and had set aside some money to spend.
And Genell did just that. Within the first few minutes of being at the jamboree, she secured a dark pink African net sponge from SemOD Afrique, to replace something she might otherwise buy on Amazon. It was an example of her putting money back into the local economy.
“I'm here with my family today, and we typically always celebrate Juneteenth with each other,” she said. “We usually pick one thing to go to and we commit to it.”
Genell moved from Hartford to New Haven last year, and thought that the event would be a great way to explore the area and noted the amount of community events.
“My favorite part is seeing [the] community, and seeing the different talent that people have here in New Haven,” she said. “Well, probably all around the state of Connecticut.”
A proud Ivorian—she last visited in 2024, after 34 years in the U.S.—Nathalie O'Donald, owner of SemOD Afrique, said that the ethos behind her business is to support "Ivorian artisans and designers.” She sells products sourced and made in Côte d’Ivoire, including clothes, jewelry, decor tote bags, and household items.
She wants people to experience the same excitement she had during that visit two years ago, she added. When she traveled to Côte d’Ivoire, it was the vibrant culture and that passion that inspired her to launch SemOD Afrique. It’s an all-hands-on-deck operation, with her husband and daughters Neema, Nuria, and Kibali helping run the booth, restock items, and provide customer service.
“African clothing or jewelry is for everyday lifestyle,” she said. “It's not your special occasion or [just] for a Juneteenth event, and things like that. It’s for everyday.”
Top: Mom Megan Stafford with kids Camryn and Avery. Bottom: Shakeira “Syck” and Takeira Bell. Abiba Biao Photos.
Soaking in the last rays of afternoon sun was Megan Stafford, there with her kids Camryn and Avery. After attending the Caribbean Festival last year, Stafford wanted to come out to the Green for more of the month’s cultural happenings. She was thrilled to make it to part of the Juneteenth Jamboree.
“The vibes are immaculate. The food is excellent. There's such a variety of [food] trucks,” she said. “They didn't have all these vendors last year at the Caribbean Festival, so that was cool seeing that.”
Just as it was Stafford’s first time attending the event, it was also the first time for some businesses. Lifelong New Havers (and twin siblings) Shakeira “Syck” and Takeira Bell stood before a table of crocheted rats, cats, shrimp, and other seafood boil animals, according to Takeira.
“I really wanted to come out for Juneteenth. It meant a lot to me and everybody else,” Syck said, their hands rhythmically dancing as they wielded their crochet hooks. “And I thought if I didn't get out and do it now, when I had the opportunity, when would I be able to do it?”
“I think I was afraid of being a part of something like this because I thought it was bigger than me,” they added. “But when I actually come here, it's like, ‘Oh no, like, this is my community,’” they said. “
Like, these are people that I see and interact with all day, every day. So it didn't have to feel like a mountain that I was trying to get over because this is just part of our lives.”
While Marcey Lynn Teague usually spends Juneteenth running around the Green juggling managerial tasks, this year, she found herself manning the coalition booth, a change of pace that “feels really good.”
An artist, Juneteenth Coalition member, and self-proclaimed communist of 18 years, Tegaue has deep ties to Juneteenth. She designed Hameen’s duster in 2025 and created the outfit her mother, Iman Uqdah Hameen, wore on Saturday.
“Everything I do is art, even if it's just writing,” she said. “Even if it's just something you wouldn't consider art.”
For Teague, Juneteenth highlights the importance of remembering history and cultivating intergenerational and cultural unity.
“If we don't continue to do things that we do as a coalition, annually — no matter how hard and difficult they are to do in some cases because of funding — you have to pursue them until people understand where we came from and where we're going,” she said.
A rising senior at Wilbur Cross High School, Jarelis Calderon is an alumna of the 2025 summer cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI). YAJI is a program in which New Haven, Hamden and West Haven Public Schools high school students pitch, write, edit and publish articles through the Arts Paper.