Lowcountry historic community celebrates Juneteenth

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate independence and culture to wrap up Juneteenth weekend.

The Liberty Hill Historical and Genealogical Society held a Juneteenth parade with an event to follow at the Felix Pinckney Center.

Where a dirt road used to lie in the small town of Liberty Hill, is now where hundreds of people gathered today, celebrating black culture.

“Keep the culture alive. It’s been away for so long–the best way to bring it back into the community and everybody celebrate,” community member James Lowe said.

The celebration came in all ways from all backgrounds, including step team, drums, jumping rope and sharing candy.

“Black, white, Latino, foreign, everybody. God loves all of us. From the inside to the heart to the outside to the heart. I love everybody,” community member Dolly Moultrie said.

Moultrie has also grown up in the Liberty Hill community, which is the oldest black neighborhood in the city of North Charleston, established in 1871.

“For us to be celebrated here in this community means everything. Four black men came here and built this community from the ground up. So, we are here to celebrate them as well as Juneteenth,” Event Coordinator, Reggie Burgess II, said.

He said that although Juneteenth is about black independence, this celebration represents so much more.

“It definitely is a lot for us as our culture, but at the end of the day, we want to be able to bring all cultures together,” Burgess said.

Burgess said that although they’ve made so much progress, there is still work to be done and that work comes from joining together as one.