“Be comfortable being uncomfortable” and come celebrate Juneteenth at Riverside

A Juneteenth celebration in La Crosse on Saturday is as much about getting to know your Black neighbors and educating yourself on Black history, as it is about feeling a little out of place.

Most people reading this will be white, and the idea of heading down to Riverside Park to celebrate Juneteenth with the Black community may make some feel out of place.

Shamawyah Curtis, with Hope Restores in La Crosse, says that’s kind of the point.

“It’s OK to be uncomfortable,” Curtis said Wednesday on La Crosse Talk PM. “African-American people have been feeling uncomfortable forever and we still go and attend Oktoberfest and any other fest that’s around. It’s OK, just come down, join in with us.

“Be comfortable being uncomfortable. That’s how change starts, right? So you may feel out of place. But one thing about the African-American community is we embrace with love. We’re going to say hi, we’re going to feed you and have a good time. You will walk in there feeling uncomfortable but, after a while, you’ll realize you’re around good people. We want people to come get involved. That’s where the change is going to start.”

Juneteenth — June 19, 1865 — represents the day enslaved Blacks in Galveston, Texas, were told they were free. It came over two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the enslaved in rebellious states.

The declaration by General Gordon Granger, bringing the Emancipation Proclamation into effect in Texas — the last state still enslaving people — is seen by many as the end of slavery.

A federally recognized holiday — now that Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson ended his yearlong holdout on the legislation in the Senate this week — Juneteenth is slowly becoming a bit more common knowledge.

“I think it’s something that a lot of people are now willing to pay attention to and really acknowledge with everything that’s gone on the last couple of years,” Shy Jackson, who founded Hope Restores with Curtis, said.

Hope Restores, along with two other groups in La Crosse — Black Student Leaders and Black Leaders Acquiring Collective Knowledge — are putting on the Riverside Park celebration.

The festival starts at noon Saturday — though the Rivoli, downtown, will be showing a free moving beginning at 6:15 p.m. Friday — with all kinds of activities for adults and children, including free food, guest speakers, over 60 organizations, games and other entertainment.

The hope here is to bring the La Crosse community closer together, recognizing differences but also that we’re not so different.

“It’s about embracing community,” Curtis said. “It’s about speaking up and saying, ‘Hey, I want to change to start here with me and my family.’

“Bringing your children. Answering the questions for your children, like ‘Hey mom, that lady’s got brown skin.’ … ‘Yes, she’s got brown skin. She was born like that. Let’s go play and talk with her and her kids.’ You know? So there’s a lot you can do, and it starts right there, by walking through the door.”

That door could also be the one at Hope Restores. The nonprofit on Copeland Avenue has all kinds of programs to help out in the community, and could always use an extra hand.
Some of the things the group provides are a drop in day care, a “giving cabinet” — for those who need food or hygiene items — diversity training, office space rental, as well as men’s and women’s support groups.

Volunteers and nonperishable donations are always welcomed and appreciated. They’re also in the middle of a $25,000 match challenge thanks to an anonymous donor. So, any money donated will be matched, up to $25,000. You can make donations by clicking here.