Culture & Community | Downtown | Juneteenth | Music | Arts & Culture | New Haven Green
The Village Drill Team & Drum Corps, helmed by Tayvon Berryman. Lucy Gellman Photos.
The drums boomed over Dixwell Avenue, ringing the morning into being. In a sea of red, members of the Village Drill Team & Drum Corps stepped off, the wide road stretching for blocks behind them. Cars honked, some drivers waving their arms in support. At the front of the line, Attorney Cheryl Sharpe began dancing, unable to stay still.
Three generations of marchers warded off rain Saturday morning—at least temporarily—as members of the Official Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven (JCGNH) and the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities (CHRO) joined forces for a youth march from Stetson Branch Library down to the New Haven Green. As they marched in time with bass drums and sharp footfalls, many took it as a chance to celebrate Black liberation, still a work in progress under the yoke of white supremacy and capitalism.
The day doubled as a moment to honor the legacy of Dr. Ronald Myers, a father of the modern Juneteenth movement who passed away in 2018. This year, Myers' wife and two children traveled from Louisiana to New Haven to accept proclamations from both the city and the Connecticut General Assembly in recognition of his work.
"You may not know it now, but you are a part of a beautiful history," said founding JCGNH member Hanan Hameen-Diop, looking over marchers that ranged from five and six years old to their 60s when they reached the Green. Because the JCGNH is part of the National Juneteenth Observation Foundation (NJOF), "the whole country knows what we are doing today."
Top: Ezekiel Works and Lorenzo. Bottom: Ezekiel Works, Laila Hughley, Sreenidi Bala, Jeremy Works.
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. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it as a national holiday for the first time. Earlier this month, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont followed suit for the state, in the same week that a Juneteenth flag went up on the New Haven Green.
This year is especially momentous for the coalition: it marks 10 years of observances in New Haven, and an evolving partnership with the International Festival of Arts & Ideas. In a decade, coalition partners have involved Kidz Kook, Ice The Beef, Artsucation Academy Network, S.P.O.R.T Academy, and the city’s Department of Arts, Culture & Tourism among others. This year, CHRO joined with members of its Kids Court Academy (KCA), an intro to law and social justice for students in middle and high school, for the first time. The academy is helmed by Sharpe, deputy director at the agency.
From the moment Stetson opened its heavy double doors Saturday morning, a sense of reverence filled the space, bouncing from shelves of Black children's literature to a first floor creation station, where students could make posters and handmade paper flags. At one table, mom Angelina Wilson and her daughter Laila Hugley worked on a poster that read Equality and Freedom with a blue, white, and red Juneteenth flag like an ampersand in the middle. At the top right, the red, green and black of the Pan-African flag peeked out at fellow attendees.
Lauren Thomas, Lorenzo, and Lydia Douglas.
Laila, who is a rising fifth grader at Worthington Hooker School and member of KCA, said that she was excited to be marching. For her, Juneteenth means "equality and freedom for all," she said—no matter a person’s race, religion, or socioeconomic status. As she chatted with her mom, she got to work outlining 50 stars for all 50 states.
Beside her, Wilson said that she was glad to be celebrating with her daughter, who had learned about the holiday at a much younger age than Wilson and her peers once had.
"It's a time of celebration and freedom, but it also reminds us to remember those who still may be captive," she said. She advocated for taking Juneteenth as a moment of reflection, in which people remember to fight for those still living in physical and economic slavery and bondage, including in the United States.
Across from them, filmmaker Lydia Douglas and her cousin Lauren Thomas put the finishing touches on a poster emblazoned with the words "Juneteenth Let's Celebrate," "My Ancestors," "Liberation! Freedom! Remembrance!" Beside them, Thomas' two-year-old son Lorenzo slipped from their table into nine-year-old Ezekiel Works' nearby arms, reaching for a green marker.
"Baby!" he exclaimed to no one in particular, making Ezekiel giggle as the two worked on a popsicle-stick Juneteenth flag. As the time to march grew closer, Lorenzo hopped down and ran around the first floor, giggling as his little feet slapped the carpet. Around him in every direction, books dedicated to the Black diaspora waited eagerly for young hands and eyes.
Outside the library, members of the Village Drill Team & Drum Corps began lining up behind Director Tayvon Berryman, in lines of red t-shirts, matching red bows, red-striped socks and shiny black marching drums. As Berryman ducked inside to look for any stragglers, Chief Executive Officer Tywanda Coggins and Assistant Director Shirley Banks counted members, making sure no one would be left behind.
It was, Coggins joked, a little bit of déjà vu: the team had been on Dixwell Avenue two weeks prior, for the Freddy Fixer Parade. The route was already familiar territory.
Banks, who for years led the Soul-o-ettes Drill Team, added that youth enrichment comes naturally to her, on Juneteenth and on all days. In the 1990s, Banks lost her daughters Regina and Rachelle to gun violence "for being in the wrong place at the wrong time," she told the New Haven Independent in 2007. Decades later, she's helping keep kids busy with activities like the drill team.
Next to her, Coggins said that she has a broader vision of a "village house" for team members and New Haven youth, particularly those who are struggling with homelessness.
Cheryl Sharpe and Ana Mitchell.
Across from them, Ezekiel and Laila lined up with fellow KCA members Jeremy Works and Sreenidi Bala. Together, the four gripped the corners of a blue-and-white CHRO banner, carefully crossing Dixwell Avenue as they found a place at the front of the line.
Bala, a 15-year-old student at Farmington High School who made the trek for the march, called the morning "a renewed hope for the future." Jeremy, who is Ezekiel's twin, said that he sees it as a reminder that no one should ever be enslaved—and that it is wrong to view anyone as “less than” because they might look different.
Then they were off, drums soaring over the avenue as Berryman lifted his arms, bent his knees, and cued in over a dozen pint-sized dancers behind him. At the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Francis Hunter Drive, they moved in place, the drums nearly purring beneath them. Behind them, Secretary of State Stephanie Thomas pumped her arms in time with the sound, waving a sign that urged passers-by to vote.
When she took the stage close to an hour later, she brought that same verve to her call for action, from voter literacy to recognizing the layers of Connecticut’s history. "The truth is, we all have to be involved all of the time," she said of how fragile voting rights remain in this country.
Hours before other festivals had bloomed into action for the day, it seemed that this was the soundtrack, or at least a soundtrack, to Juneteenth. On one side of the street, cars passed, some drivers honking and pumping their fists at the sight of young people. A 238 bus waited patiently behind the group. Close to the front of the line, Sharpe and CHRO Outreach Coordinator Ana Mitchell danced as they walked, turning to face Berryman every few minutes.
"Today means freedom. It means equity. It means equality," Sharpe said as she lifted her arms, and let them sail through the air in time with Berryman’s. "It means sharing information and setting people free to be on this earth as equals. It's a day of jubilee for us ... and it feels so good to have all these young people together—for them to understand that they're free. This is the next generation of civil rights leaders."
The beat, it turned out, was infectious. As marchers made their way from Dixwell and Lake Place to the island at Dixwell Avenue and Goffe Street, people came out of their homes, stopped their errands, and popped out of the post office to see where the sound was coming from. By the time the group had reached Broadway Avenue and Park Street, two dozen people waited for the marchers, cheering from a traffic island in the middle of the wide road.
Ronald Dorsey and Precious Adkins.
Overhead, the sky darkened, and Village Drill Team members shook off any worry of rain with a new routine. As the drums beat behind them, members fell into formation, circling each other until they were in five straight lines, arms windmilling in place. Their knees sailed, striped red socks and red-clad feet leaving the ground as they kicked forward in place, and then marched on to the music.
"Yes! Yes!" Berryman said as he led the group forward. Nearby, passers-by stood mesmerized at the Broadway Triangle, many leaning over a fence as they watched.
Down the block, Yale Hospitality workers Precious Adkins and Ronald Dorsey stopped on their way in to work to get a closer look. Both pulled out their phones, ready to record, as the group approached. Adkins, who grew up in New Haven, praised the team for giving kids something to do in a city where affordable extracurricular activities feel few and far between. At home, she often thinks about how to keep her four-year-old son occupied, especially during the summer months.
"We need to do more of this for the kids," she said.
Onstage are founding coalition membersL Kidz Kook's Tennille Murphy, Iman Uqdah Hameen, S.P.O.R.T. Academy's Edward Trimble, Dr. Hanan Hameen-Diop, Chaz Carmon, and and Ali Jabbar.
As Broadway turned into Elm Street, Berryman put out his arms, letting a drizzle fall onto them as he continued moving. Even in the light rain, he and members of The Village were unstoppable—they stepped it out, lifted and locked their arms over their heads, sprang forward and strutted down the street with attitude and style. Then, in a final order, Berryman steered them onto the Temple Street sidewalk, as they marched toward the New Haven Green.
There, Hameen-Diop and members of the JCGNH were already waiting, decades of history between them. On one side of a festival stage, Hameen-Diop had set up a tent specifically for community elders, including Myers' wife, Sylvia Holmes-Myers. On the other, flags from across the African and Afro-Caribbean diaspora greeted marchers as they made it onto the grass. As Sharpe presented the group with gift cards from CHRO, Hameen-Diop brought them to attention with a West African greeting.
"Ago!" she cried, the Twi rippling off her tongue.
"Ame!" members of the group cried back instinctively. She dipped into the history of Juneteenth, noting that the New Haven Green—known more broadly as a cross-through and bus hub—is also "sacred ground.” Until March 1825, enslaved people were sold as property on the Green, sometimes after they were paraded through downtown New Haven. In Connecticut, the practice of slavery lasted until 1848.
Ron'aldneoma Myers-Brooks and her mother, Sylvia Holmes-Myers.
As she rounded the final bend onto the Green with Lorenzo on her shoulders, Douglas said she was feeling a number of mixed emotions, her joy in the moment tempered by a history that is heavy and bitter. On Juneteenth, she said, she rejoices in the history of her ancestors learning that they were free.
But she also remembers that they were, for centuries, stolen from their home, forced into backbreaking and deadly labor, and treated as less-than-human property. While chattel slavery may have ended in 1865, the economic disenfranchisement of Black Americans continues today.
"I'm glad it's a national federal holiday, because it brings attention to who we are, and to our community and our culture," she said. "And I'm glad to see people other than Black people participating, because that means that they have awareness as well."
Onstage, the sound equipment crackled to life, and Babaláwo Enroue Halfkenny leaned into the mic, leading a libation that would ready the surrounding space for a day of dance, music, and history. Minutes later, he was welcoming attendees to a tent across the Green, where he had set up a space to honor and remember ancestors.
Waiting on the side of the stage, Holmes-Myers praised the Juneteenth Coalition for its work in bringing attention to the holiday in New Haven. For decades, she and Myers traveled from state to state, working to spread information about the history and significance of the date. When Myers passed in 2018, she carried on his legacy.
"We still have work to do," she said. When she took the stage, she remembered how a young Barack Obama, then a freshman senator from Illinois, would call Myers during his first term in office, and talk about Juneteenth. He promised that if he became president, he would host a Juneteenth celebration on the White House lawn, Holmes-Myers said.
That may not have happened, she said—but two presidents later, President Joe Biden signed it into law as a national holiday. "While we still have miles to go, I extend my gratitude to New Haven and to the coalition," she said. "He would have loved to be here."
Her daughter, Ron'aldneoma Myers-Brooks, added that she could feel her father's presence: he always loved gathering storm clouds, because he believed that rain was a "cleanse." When the sky opened up just past 3 p.m., it felt like he was saying hello.
"It's surreal," chimed in his son, Joshua Langston Myers. "I always thought that he would be here."
Even in his absence, that legacy lived on throughout the afternoon, from stations dedicated to education and Black diasporic histories to a rain-soaked performance from hip hop pioneers the Cold Crush Brothers. Across from the stage, founding JCGNH member and Kidz Kook Founder Tennille Murphy helped young attendees cut out tortillas in the shape of the African continent, drizzling them with cooking spray, cinnamon sugar and fruit salsa the colors of the Pan-African flag.
Top: The Kidz Kook Tutorial in full swing. Bottom: Members of the Greater New Haven African American Historical Society.
Between tutorials, she said she is proud of the coalition, which has grown from a single tent on the New Haven Green to a weekend-long festival and Black vendor fair across two stages. As she spoke, she lifted a heavy ziploc bag of blackberries, one part of the salsa.
"Juneteenth is about remembering our elders and our culture," she said, as she helped Ezekiel press down on an Africa-shaped cookie cutter, and a tiny, tortilla-patterned continent appeared. An air bubble bloomed where Mali would otherwise have been, and Ezekiel got to work sprinkling cinnamon sugar on the surface.
Nearby, Sankofa Learning Center Founder Amelia Sherwood welcomed attendees of all ages to her tent, where she spoke about the home day care she has been able to start on her longtime dream of an "African-centered learning ecosystem." Next to information on the center, Sherwood had set up stations for drawing and necklace making.
Sankofa Learning Center Founder and Director Amelia Sherwood.
She said that for her—as an educator, as a mom, as a builder of community—Juneteenth is about remembering those who came before her, so that she can do the work she does every day.
"I'm just so grateful that my ancestors get to live through me," she said. "It's a good day."
One table over, Hafeeza Turé and Shayla Streeter of The Elements of Abundance talked to people about their work, which in a year has grown from a few events to citywide collaborations. As "community architects," Streeter said, part of their work is bringing members of the community together to connect, exchange, build and heal.
In that spirit, the group is working to bring a collective of 30 Black creatives and entrepreneurs to Ghana in December.
Top: Hafeeza Turé, Eddie Streeter and Shayla Streeter. Bottom: Monique Le and David Millington.
"It starts with the healing work," Streeter said, adding that she sees education—on Juneteenth and on all days of the year—as part of the Elements' wider mission.
"I acknowledge my ancestors on a day to day basis," Turé said. "The struggle, the sacrifice, all it took for us to get to this moment. It's a reminder of how resilient we are."
Within earshot, real-life Black cowboy David Millington remembered growing up in Trinidad, where he fell in love with American Westerns. When he moved to the U.S. at 19, he began to learn about roping and herding practices alongside his studies in structural engineering.
Now, he and his wife Monique Lee lead the business Patriot Cowboy out of Milford. Throughout the day, laughter bubbled up from where he had set up a display, and spent hours teaching kids to mount saddles and rope stationary cattle.
Back onstage, it was time for the act many had been waiting for. To cheers, applause, and proclamations from the Connecticut General Assembly and Gov. Ned Lamont, the Cold Crush Brothers took the stage, guiding the audience through the evolution of hip hop even as they ran through mic checks and eased into a set.
Members recalled how hesitant they were to sign a record deal in the early days of the hip hop movement. Years later, they don’t regret waiting,
"Now every superhero has to have his own theme song, okay?" the words bounced from the stage as keys rang out beneath them, and it became nearly impossible not to move. "This one is ours. Break it down."
They slipped into their 1982 "The Weekend," and people started to dance across the grass. As they performed, a raindrop fell, and then another, until suddenly the musicians were dropping bars in a downpour. Attendees scurried under tents, standing shoulder to shoulder. A handful of people huddled beneath a tree, heads and shoulders still bobbing.
Back on the mics, not a drop seemed to matter. From "The Weekend," the four gave a tour of hip hop at warp speed, joking with DJ Tony Tone as they brought it back to party standards that could have a whole room vibrating. Despite the rain, Belito Garcia turned a spot in front of the stage into his dance floor, rain dripping off of him as he began to breakdance.
For Hameen-Diop, who has watched the event grow year after year, it captured the spirit of the day. At the beginning of June, she and her mother both stressed the importance of education during a Juneteenth flag raising on the New Haven Green. Now, the day had arrived.
"It's about the coalition," she said Saturday, before there was even a suggestion of rain on the horizon. "It's about all of us."
To learn more about the Official Juneteenth Coalition of Greater New Haven, click here. To learn more about the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, click here. The Village Drill Team & Drum Corps has put out a call for funding: learn more about it here.