Edmonds, Lynnwood community members celebrate Juneteenth
Published 1:30 am Friday, June 19, 2026
EDMONDS — Snohomish County community members gathered in Lynnwood and Edmonds on Friday to celebrate Juneteenth, a holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.
Attendees traveled from across the county to celebrate with food, speeches, song and dance.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that more than 250,000 enslaved people in the state were free. The announcement came more than two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
In Edmonds, dozens gathered at the Edmonds Waterfront Center, where speakers recognized the importance of the holiday and shared stories about their heritage. Donnie Griffin, founder and president of Lift Every Voice Legacy, said that when his grandfather was 9 years old, he learned he was one of the 4 million enslaved people who were freed.
“He started a path that has led to me standing here in front of you today,” Griffin said. “… Abraham Lincoln didn’t believe that Black folks and white folks could ever sit down together in equality and eat together like we’re going to do here, play together, and sing together, and dance together. … We have exceeded even his dream.”
Community members also enjoyed performances, including line dancing and renditions of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “This Little Light of Mine” by Erie Darby Wheeler. The event also included food, a story hour and crafts for kids, and a free screening of “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” a documentary about civil rights activist and former U.S. Representative John Lewis.
“Juneteenth reminds us that freedom is not only the absence of chains, it is the presence of opportunity,” Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen said. “It’s the ability to participate fully in your community, to be seen, to be heard, to belong.”
In Lynnwood, dozens gathered at Cedar Valley Community School for the city’s fourth annual Juneteenth celebration organized by Project Girl, a nonprofit that provides mentoring to young women of color. This year, the event’s theme was “joy,” said JaDivah Hawkins, executive assistant for Project Girl.
“This event is a way for us to invite our community out to come and celebrate Juneteenth together and what that means, which is the freedom of the last slaves in Galveston, Texas,” she said. “It’s important for us to remember that because we should continue to try to move forward as a community. We should continue to try to thrive and achieve the best versions of ourselves so we can show up as the best versions for our community.”
The event included local vendors, food trucks and community resources. Community members of all ages attended and celebrated with crafts, music, dance, speeches and poetry.
“I have to be here so I can pour into the young people, so that they can continue on telling the story and letting the world know about our truth,” said DanVonique Bletson-Reed, president of the Snohomish County Black Heritage Committee. “There’s a lot of work to be done. There’s a lot of injustice, a lot of evil, a lot of things that are not right going on. We have to continue to stand up, we have to continue to speak out, we have to continue to fight the good fight, as John Lewis said, we have to continue to get into good trouble.”
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
