Celebrating Juneteenth
NEWTON. The third annual event hosted by H3AL included music, dance, speeches and local vendors.
Newton /
| 21 Jun 2023 | 08:19
Members of the crowd dance at the Juneteenth celebration Monday, June 19 in Newton. (Photos by Kathy Shwiff)
Members of the crowd jump at the DJ’s instruction at the Juneteenth celebration
The Rev. Shea Maultsby of Unity of Sussex County in Lafayette pours liquid on the ground as a libation to Mother Earth.
Lorant Mena, chief of impactful education with H3AL, a Black advocacy group based in Newton, performs a spoken-word piece called ‘Free.’
Danny Parrott displays products of his Bergen County-based businesses, Herbal Infusions Kitchen and the People’s Herbalist.
About 10 vendors took part in the Juneteenth celebration.
Dancers show how low they can go.
Members of the crowd dance at the Juneteenth celebration.
About 10 vendors took part in the Juneteenth celebration.
The third annual Juneteenth celebration hosted by H3AL, a Black advocacy group based in Newton, was in Memory Park, next to a field where Scott Paul had played football for Newton High School.
“Players on the other team were trying to break me and the other Black player on the team, they were trying to break our legs simply because we’re Black,” he told people assembled at the event.
That was the first time that he was threatened because of his skin color. “But at the same time, I also had a team of White brothers that had my back.”
Paul, director of marketing at H3AL, pointed out that three years ago, the biggest protest in Sussex County history was held at Memory Park after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a White police officer in Minneapolis.
Lorant Mena, chief of impactful education at H3AL, urged the crowd to buy from the vendors, which were businesses owned by African-Americans.
At the end of the Civil War in 1865, “the Black community had half of 1 percent of the nation’s wealth,” he said. “You fast forward to today, we’re still under 3 percent.”
In thriving ethnic and religious groups in this country, a dollar may be exchanged within the community eight to 12 times before it leaves that community. “In the Black community, the dollar lasts about six hours before it leaves. Often it doesn’t exchange one time.
”One of the most revolutionary things you guys can do is support the businesses here and donate to the best of your ability.”
H3AL, an acronym for Highlighting Equality & Equity through Education, Advocacy & Love, emerged from the protests organized after Floyd was killed. The group promotes unity, diversity and racial equity throughout Sussex County.
The Rev. Shea Maultsby of Unity of Sussex County in Lafayette honored the ancestors “that we know built all in this country that we stand upon.” “We would not be where we are without them.”
While the world sometimes seems crazy, “we can be the bringers of peace, we can be the bringers of love,” she said.
Simonetta Jean of Sparta said she had attended all three Juneteenth celebrations. “I’m here to support our community.”
She pointed out the need for Americans to learn the country’s real history.
Juneteenth, which became a federal holiday in 2021, is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865.
Jean’s husband is from Haiti, and she grew up in Ogdensburg with a brother who was the only Black student at Wallkill Valley Regional High School at that time. “I saw racism first-hand.”
