Juneteenth celebration brings fun and history to Topeka

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – On a hot and windy Saturday, the community came out for the Topeka Family and Friends Juneteenth Celebration.

Located at the Hillcrest Community Center, Topeka came out to take part in the festivities.

“12 years running. We’re doing pretty good. It’s getting bigger and bigger every year. The community is still coming out more and more, so it’s been really great for the community,” said Randy Wheat, Topeka Family and Friends Juneteenth.

“You can meet new people, new friends, old friends that you haven’t seen in a while. They’ll come out and you read, reconnect with old friends. And it’s a good, positive thing. You can network. You have great food, you have great music. You have young people that’s doing entertaining, they’ll dance and sing. This is just a beautiful thing here,” said Jessie Spencer, an attendee.

The celebration isn’t a recent phenomenon in Topeka. It has a storied history in the area.

“Here in Topeka, we have been celebrating Juneteenth for like a long, long time. Even before Juneteenth, the Topeka family and friends Juneteenth incorporated started celebrating. It was being celebrated before that,” said Sherri Camp.

“People have been celebrating all over the country because, again, that idea that if one person is enslaved, all or enslaved, and to celebrate means we’re celebrating everyone. And so all over the country, there have been celebrations of freedom for since 1865,” said Camp.

The current political climate has led some to celebrate Juneteenth longer.

“There’s so much adversity, so much against DEI, so much against telling our history, books being banned, and all of the things that are going on in our current culture. We need to make sure we tell our story,” said Camp.

The Juneteenth celebration continued well into the night, ending at 10 pm. Before then, there were a couple of musical acts, as well as the crowning of Juneteenth royalty.