BROCKTON – Dozens of local Black entrepreneurs decorate their tables with hand-crafted merchandise as DJ KewKew plays a mixture of musical genres and Lady C&J Soulfood & Catering feeds the hungry crowd of people.
The Melanin Essential Market Pop-Up is a three-day event that began Friday and goes through Sunday at the Westgate Mall to celebrate the new state and federal holiday Juneteenth.
More:How communities in the Brockton area are commemorating the state’s 1st Juneteenth holiday
The holiday celebrates the freeing of the last of the enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, and when they were alerted of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865.
President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 issued the preliminary proclamation freeing the remaining enslaved people in early 1863. But many southern states continued forced labor until the Union troops arrived to liberate the remaining enslaved people.
Juneteenth gained popularity in 2020 after social justice movements erupted across the United States in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black Americans.
More:Juneteenth is now a federal holiday. This year’s celebrations come amid a culture war.
Black Owned Brockton, a business advocacy organization specializing in spreading awareness of local Black businesses, partnered with the Westgate Mall to bring the Melanin Essential Market to fruition.
“We are pleased to present the Melanin Essential Market Pop-Up, the first in a series of vendor markets in partnership with…
