Berwyn’s inaugural Juneteenth fest a success

To fully appreciate the significance of Berwyn’s first Juneteenth celebration, look to history, both local and national.

For years, many people have been commemorating June 19, 1865, the date when Texas’ enslaved people were told that they had been free for two years since President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Berwyn’s first Juneteenth celebration kicked off about 48 hours after President Joe Biden declared June 19 a federal holiday.

“I wasn’t expecting Berwyn’s first Juneteenth to also be the country’s first official Juneteenth, but obviously that’s pretty great,” said 12-year Berwyn resident Summer Butler, who spearheaded the Juneteenth fest.

“I’ve lived here long enough to observe and see the lack of representation of my culture, of Black people, in any citywide event. I wanted to be part of putting that representation out there. But it’s not recognition we’re asking for, it’s equality,” she said.

Butler points to history – as recent as a few weeks ago and as distant as a century ago – to illustrate Berwyn’s road to an inaugural Juneteenth event that drew several hundred people, dozens of sponsors, a solid entertainment lineup and at least five minutes of face time from almost every elected municipal and township office holder.

For decades after its 1908 incorporation, Berwyn – like next-door Oak Park – was a Sundown town, or a town where it wasn’t safe for Black people to stop after sundown, Butler said.

Berwyn’s first Black alderman, Joseph Carmichael of the 8th Ward, spoke at the fest of growing up in the long shadow of Sundown laws, the impact of the policing at Berwyn’s Black Lives Matter rally last summer and how both events spurred him to get involved organizing Berwyn’s Juneteenth.

“My parents had to plan out where our rest stops would be on family trips so that we didn’t end up in the wrong town. So while I stand here as a clear marker of progress, this has to be just the beginning,” he said.

“This event was made for and by Berwyn residents. If we can keep making our voices heard, we’ll see the type of progress we’re here today to celebrate,” he said.

While Sundown laws no longer officially exist anywhere, Berwyn’s history with racism is well documented. In 1992, the year after Carmichael was born, a Black family named Campbell moved into Berwyn. After months of threats and vandalism, their home was firebombed. The Campbells moved, and later sued the city and its police chief.

“That was not some distant event from the past, that is something that occurred in my lifetime and I’m only 30 years old. That threat is something my family had to reckon with growing up,” Carmichael said.

Butler said local history was weighing on her mind when she decided to make Juneteenth a big deal in Berwyn. But her intentions crystallized, Butler said, after witnessing the city’s police response to a Black Live Matter rally last summer at City Hall.

“When I went and saw all those police with guns on the rooftops, the video cameras they were filming us with, I was angry. And afraid,” she said. “And then I was like, ‘If I’m having to deal with this, well, the kids here are having to deal with it, too.’ And when I think about that, I’m like, ‘How dare you?’

“That rally was a unification of neighbors, despite how some people were trying to paint it. We were trying to build community, not tear it down,” she said.

That community showed up for Juneteenth.

“I think I asked 200 people for help with something at various points when I was planning. Nobody turned me down,” Butler said, singling out the North Berwyn Park District for logistical support at the 1529 Harlem Ave. locale where Juneteenth unfolded on the VFW Hall parking lot.

The inaugural fest received no support from City Hall beyond two auxiliary police officers who patrolled Juneteenth, Butler said. At the June 22 City Council meeting, Police Chief Michael Cimaglia asked who would pay for those officers, and agreed to send them after Carmichael assured him the event organizers would pay for their time.

Butler said she was filing a Freedom of Information Act with the city to find out if other permitted community events in Berwyn such as block parties, Brewfest and Deck the Depot had to pay for police help.

Getting vendors to show up wasn’t always easy, but the effort was well worth it, she said.

“I had several vendors who doubted coming to Berwyn because of the history here. And who were sure there weren’t any Black people in Berwyn because of that history,” she said. “They all ended up really glad they came. I’ve already started planning for next year.”