This is the 49th year of the largest African American festival on the East Coast. And it took place in the only truly integrated city in America, Baltimore, MD.
As a member of the media, I get to see things the average person would not. What is remarkable about this year, it comes on the heels of a Democratic President of the Unted States, Joe Biden endorsing the law passed by the United States Congress in 2021, to make June 19th, a Federal Holiday.
AFRAM occurs during the week of Juneteenth celebrations.
We, in Baltimore, have this envious position to massively commemorate AFRAM because of its proximity to JUNETEENTH.
Baltimore is run by an African American Mayor, and African American Governor. Everything connected to this should be highly executed to earn paise and applause from the public, including the PRESS/MEDIA.
Instead, I found a sea of confused people, and private security personnel, who behaved at times as though they were members of the National Guard, who let their friends inside the stage area, but kept other people out. Whether some of them had media credentials seemed doubtful.
Why would WJZ-TV (part of Paramount Global) have exclusive rights to the media pit? AFRAM is for all people, not just the rich! This is in reverse of the holiday’s meaning!
Two days of celebration, from 1 to 10pm, with a main performer for each night, JUVENILE for the youth on Saturday, and PATTI LABELL for the grown folks on Sunday.
Until those main acts perform, how is that time utilized? D J s, playing hip hop music, moving the audience to behave as though we are in a club, expressing ourselves that we are free to frolic in undulating ways as though “smoked up” or inebriated. No provision for the elderly to be recognized.
Why were we not witnessing the presentation of poets, the birth of JAZZ that could have been performed by various schools? We could have been reminded how Frederick Douglass forced President Abraham Lincoln to sign the Declaration of Independence, thus ending the Civil War, and subsequently birthing the 1865 JUNETEENTH Celebration.
The organizers of AFRAM had no participants from surrounding counties; so, we remain a divided people, claiming to be Christian. Harford and other counties surrounding Baltimore had their celebrations this same weekend, and WJZ-TV highlighted them on their morning show, WJZ-at-9. None of the talking heads ever asked the question about changing those feasts or festivals to another weekend!
The Mayor’s Office or the City Council ought to turn the binoculars on this event for next year.
