Provo Juneteenth event to feature Black businesses, history in Utah – Daily Herald

Juneteenth is a day that commemorates the ending of slavery, more specifically the liberation of enslaved peoples in the state of Texas on June 19, 1865.

The day also will be celebrated in Utah with numerous Juneteenth celebrations, including ones in Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo.

Tamu Smith, the Utah County Juneteenth coordinator, is looking forward to the upcoming celebration in Provo, but was quick to point to the history of Juneteenth in Utah as a whole. She credited Betty Sawyer with bringing Juneteenth to Utah, hosting a celebration in Ogden for over 20 years.

The Ogden event has since expanded, making its way into Salt Lake City and now into Utah County and Provo.

Smith said that this years event will be history-based while also spotlighting Black businesses in the community. The history aspect will revolve around Black pioneers from the state of Utah, as well as some global Black pioneers.

Some of that history includes Green Flake, an enslaved Latter-day Saint who came to Utah with Brigham Young and would prepare homes for those on their way to the Salt Lake Valley, according to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website.

With Brigham Young ill, Flake would drive the first wagon through Emigration Canyon, and by the time Young made it to the valley, Flake had already planted crops to help feed the pioneers.

Other historical Black people from Utah will be portrayed at the event, including a historical selfie booth. Smith said it is all in an effort to establish that Black people helped settle the state of Utah.

Its important that we start to marry our history by sharing these unknown stories regarding Utahs history," said Smith. "Were creating opportunities for the community to become aware of the contributions that Blacks made here. And, considering the social turbulence that others were dealing with during that time Utah felt like a fairly safe place to raise a black family."

With this focus on Black history, Smith said it is especially for the Utah County event because the Black community is separated by location.

After raising six children in Utah County, and being a resident for 20 years, Smith said she had to be intentional about having her children involved in the Black community.

Having this opportunity to bring the community together, having opportunities for kids to be in the community with each other and see each other is important and valuable, Smith said.

For the business aspect, the event is aimed to be an amazing opportunity to highlight businesses that have been unrecognized. Smith added that people in Utah are beginning to see how important it is to maintain some of those Black-owned businesses.

While the Black community knows these businesses, according to Smith, people need to be intentional in helping those businesses stay open. This platform for the businesses will make them better competitors, evening the playing field to some extent.

I hope that people will come here and walk away wanting to learn more about communities that have been marginalized, not just the Black community but other communities, Smith said. I want them to walk away with more information, more knowledge, and also with more of an open heart and seeing who is a part of their community, not just what people look like but seeing who is actually a part of their community, what they have to offer, and how they can support.

There will be performances, speakers, an art exhibit, an African-American museum bus, and more at the event on Saturday. Smith expects it to be a fun event where people are lending their names, time and talents to help the event come together.

While there have been Juneteenth barbecues in the past, this will be the first large event to commemorate the day in Utah County. With that, Smith said that the city of Provo has been supportive of the celebrations.

It can be a daunting experience to have to do this and put this together without support but when you know that you have support from your city in doing something like this, it definitely makes walking uphill a lot easier, Smith said.

While Provo and Orem have been listed as two of the least diverse cities in the country for 2021, according to a WalletHub report, Smith said that while the cities lack diversity, they are willing to have difficult discussions. That lack of diversity has not stopped the two cities from having difficult conversations, according to Smith.

To learn more about the Utah County Juneteenth celebration, or the Salt Lake Juneteenth celebration, visit saltlakejuneteenth.org.

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Provo Juneteenth event to feature Black businesses, history in Utah - Daily Herald