BI holds 3rd annual Juneteenth event

As Renni Bispham, co-chair of the Race Equity Advisory Committee for the city of Bainbridge Island, said during a panel on Juneteenth: “change moves at the speed of relationships.” On BI, that speed is slow but steady.

“The work is slower than I would like — than everyone would like — but we’re hoping to build bridges,” Bispham said June 19 in a celebration at Town Square on BI. “We’re not making the world a more equitable place part and parcel through our work, but we’re making it better for people who live here.”

Juneteenth celebrates the day in 1865 when news of freedom reached enslaved Black Americans in Galveston, TX, 2 1/2 years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863. The holiday is the oldest known public celebration of the end of slavery, and its popularity has begun to spread from the American South to the rest of the nation since the George Floyd civil rights protests of 2020.

BI hosted its third Juneteenth celebration, continuing the city’s 2020 commitment to elevate marginalized communities and social injustice.

Black businesses from all over Western Washington sold food, clothing and accessories, while DJ Summersoft spun tunes and led group dances. Local arts and heritage groups, like the BI Museum of Art, Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, Bainbridge Performing Arts, Bainbridge Black, the Bainbridge branch of the Kitsap Regional Library, and Living Arts Cultural Heritage hosted craft booths and informational literature for attendees.

Lloyd Proctor, Seattle-based entrepreneur and fashion model, was glad to have an opportunity to network with other Black-owned businesses in a region of the state that often feels out of reach. Prudence Brownell, owner of West African Goods of Suquamish, and Rebekah Lewis, founder of skincare company Onyx + Petal, agreed and the Juneteenth market hosted by the Northwest African American Museum featured the greatest number of Black business owners in one spot that they’d seen.

“It’s great that there’s genuine engagement and interest in the importance of the dollar going to Black businesses. There’s still a lot of obstacles — loans are still so out of proportion,” Lewis said. “But I think it’s important to also provide context through education and history. Education will help move the needle so that people understand the significance of Juneteenth.”

Tori Cooper and Walker Trelease, festival attendees from Poulsbo, echoed Lewis’ calls for education. Cooper, who is Black, grew up in a small town in southern Illinois. She learned about Juneteenth in grade school, but hadn’t celebrated publicly before. Trelease, who is white, was not aware of the holiday until recently.

Education was central to the Bainbridge event. Inside BPA, Kitsap social justice activist Akuyea Vargas shared a keynote presentation, followed by a performance by Bainbridge dance instructor Lydia Olsen. The stage events closed with a panel and Q&A from city REAC members Bispham, Savanna Rovelstad and Olivia Hall, joined by Daryl Riley, former member of the now-dissolved REAC of Bremerton. The panel discussed challenges they faced in city government and how the Bainbridge community can step up.

All three panelists were clear: use your privilege, especially with your friends and family, and check in on the people of color in your life. Hall and Bispham also encouraged citizens to run for office and attend bystander trainings. “Silence is consent. We don’t have that luxury — we still have to do this, we still have to exist,” Hall said. “We have to find ways for the work to be so proficient that it’s an embarrassment for them to not be on board.”

Riley added: “Racism is about power. Find innovative ways to circumvent the system. We have to change how we operate […] I don’t care what they’re naming the jail. I care about educating kids.” He was referring to the Ted Spearman Justice Center on BI, which is named after a former Black judge.

Some Bainbridge residents are already educating their peers.

Sasha Barrel, sixth-grader at Sakai Intermediate School and president of the Culture Club, was tabling at the event in between dance breaks. The club gets together weekly to celebrate different cultures and support students who are Black, Indigenous or People of Color. She said she loves Juneteenth, but it’s important that her work with Culture Club continues after she graduates. “I want to see it keep going — to pass it down,” she said.