GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – In a time of celebrating blackness, We All Rise: African American Resource Center hosted their annual Juneteenth celebration at Joannes Park in Green Bay on Saturday.
Their focus was on having those real conversations about African American history and how it impacts people like us to this day.
“In order to address those issues, it has to stay at the forefront of people’s conversations. And it’s not used as a hammer to beat over people’s heads, but it is a constant reminder that we still have some work to do,” says Rick Crosson.
Juneteenth is the celebration of Black Americans who were freed from bondage in Galveston, Texas, on June 19th, 1865, 2 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
We All Rise’s executive director, Robin Scott, says the community needs to understand this side of history while looking for ways to fix the issues that black and brown people face.
“History has shown us that you can put everything in a Black person’s way and still we rise. Still, we’re resistant. Still, we stick together. Still, we have Juneteenth and all of these other things. And so what I’m saying to the rest of the community is like, let’s get behind things so Wisconsin doesn’t always have to be last,” says Scott.
The non-profit is looking for more representation in the Green Bay Area School District, which they say can be done with Rick Crosson back on the board.
They believe he will represent the minority students in the district, which accounts for about 60% of the student population.
“If you’re not willing to address those biases of your own and step outside of yourself and your biases, and address the issues in a more objective way, looking for the objective truth. Then we’re always in this perpetual loop,” says Crosson.
Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday by the Biden administration in 2021.
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