Isheeka Edwards, 37, watched the commemoration on Sunday with her two children, Lesedi, 8, and Kopano, 3, as Gha’il Rhodes Benjamin, a spoken word poet, led the crowd in singing “This Little Light of Mine ” West. side of the park near 85th Street, the former location of the colorful No. 3 School in Seneca Village.
Ms Edwards, who said she lived in a 1.6 per cent black community in the west, said she had specifically traveled to the city to celebrate June 19. “Anything specifically African American or just seeing black people on a regular basis is pretty limited there,” she said.
She wanted her children “to be aware of this side of America, this history, their own culture,” she said.
Natasha Mast, 42, who attended the event with her husband and two sons, aged 7 and 11, said she was grappling with what should happen next. “Should it be returned somehow? she asked. “It’s definitely something I’m thinking about, and I’m not sure what the right move is at this point in the story. »
In the meantime, she planned to continue educating herself and her children about Seneca Village and Juneteenth.
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