What is Juneteenth you ask? Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of people being enslaved in the good ole USA. It is both a somber and celebratory day to commemorate the Thirteenth Amendment. Juneteenth is short for “June Nineteenth” as that is the date that marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, TX in 1866 to take control of the state and ensure that all the enslaved people there were freed. The troops came a full two and a half years AFTER the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It is considered the longest-running African American holiday in the US and it became officially a federal holiday in America on June 17, 2021. 

 

There are a number of events celebrating this holiday in Rainier Beach/Rainier Valley.  Atlantic Street Center typically hosts one and it will be on June 19, 2022, from 11 am – 3 pm at the Rainier Beach Community Center Plaza.  RBAC will be there, and it will be combined with a health fair. If you are interested in volunteering go to this link – .https://atlanticstreetcenter.org/juneteenth-volunteer/.

 

There is also the 6th Annual Juneteenth Celebration at Othello Park on June 19, 2022, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.  You can contact juneteentheventcelebration@gmail.com or call 206-327-3064 if you are interested in participating in this one. 

 

The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) is also celebrating “Black Freedom” with a Juneteenth Week from June 12, 2022 – June 19, 2022. The culminating event will be at Judkins Park starting at 11 am, where a skate party will be hosted featuring Black-owned vendors, food trucks, music, and more. Want to volunteer? Check out this link https://1alutdkd.paperform.co/ 

 

In honor of Juneteenth, we are going to pivot here from talking about it to sharing what RBAC is doing to move Rainier Beach forward.  This is a question we ask staff each week in our Lead Team meetings.  What’s the connection between Juneteenth and this information?  Well, our enslaved ancestors had hopes and dreams and we think there is a connection to them and what RBAC is doing today to move Rainier Beach forward. Enjoy!

  • Placed 200+ PBIS signs throughout the neighborhood this past Thursday.
  • Introduced a survey to help with the development of Hutchinson Park in upper Rainier Beach 2022 Hutchinson Park Survey
  • Participating in the Rainier Beach Block Party: June 17, 12-4 pm. Rainier Beach Plaza. We’ll have 3 booths – a ‘show love’ station, a CG tent, and a Coach Vic fitness tent. 
  • Restoration Circle flyer coming soon!
  • Info meetings/class sessions are being held on Wednesdays  at Rainier Beach High School from 1-3pm regarding the rebuild
  • RBAC has an internal Fundraising & Outreach Competition to get 100% of all staff contributing either dollars, fans or volunteers.  The current leaders are David Sauvion and Nurhaliza Mohamath, Makayla Miles, and Jessicka Rambus
  • Mayor’s Day of Service (May 21st) was great, more work at Mapes Creek is done, looking to find community groups to join us. If there are any particular areas that need help hit Clean Crew by emailing Ryan Croone at ryan@rbactioncoalition.org. Kudos to Mt. Baker Housing who owns the mini-mart on Rainier & Cloverdale for getting rid of the graffiti. The Clean Crew reached out to Seattle Public Schools for the clean event and they cleared the lot behind Cloverdale Mini Mart
  • Resource pamphlet for learning how to function when gun violence occurs is at the RBAC office. Email Marisol Santos Perez at marisol@rbactioncoaltion.org and she will get them to you.
  • Safer Summer Initiative Launch – Gun Lock Box Giveaway and Community Awareness Event occurred on Friday, June 3rd, 2022 in commemoration of National Gun Violence Awareness Day
  • Develop-meant for the Community 2.0 Rainier Beach Town Hall at Rainier Beach Community Center 6-8:30 PM on June 30th.
  • Danielle Jackson and Niecko Glover to meet to discuss Christmas Lights at the Rainier Beach Pearls during the holiday season

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