CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — While the Juneteenth Holiday commemorates the true end of slavery in America it comes at a time when many Chicagoans are thinking about violent crimes that have been plaguing many neighborhoods.
The Pullman community, on Chicago’s Far South Side, is home to the Pullman National Historical Park, which boasts exhibits on one of the nation's first planned industrial parks, as well as the railroad magnate who built it. It's also home to the A. Phillip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum, which largely focuses on African American history and the labor movement.
On Monday, museum president David Peterson said his institution will be spearheading a day of Juneteenth activities, including a parade, a block party, music and a basketball tournament.
“They have a league that takes place all year, and the Juneteenth tournament is actually the championship,” Peterson said.
As someone who runs a museum, Peterson would be remiss weren’t lessons to be learned along the way, and the 2023 theme is ending gun violence.
Peterson added that they’ll also remind residents to return for ongoing activities surrounding the environment, better nutrition, and even creative writing through hip-hop. They want young people not to always write so much violence into their verses.
“Because all they’re simply doing is talking about the things that they see or the cultures that they’re around all the time,” he said. “We are intentional about giving them more … things to talk about, so they don’t think that in every urban or low-income community, it has to be a warzone. That’s not the reality. That’s not the truth.”
Peterson said some artists he’s spoken with have said violent lyrics reflect their neighborhood or where they grew up, but he doesn’t believe that captures the entire picture.
“That’s not true, because on your same block, you have a lady selling snow cones out there,” he said. “You have kids playing ball outside.”
It doesn’t have to be rainbows and unicorns, just the reality of the whole block.
He said the museum will be expanding its already robust exhibits that show the role of women in the civil rights and labor movements.
Related
Related
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!