FITCHBURG — Two recent events in the city highlighted the power of community.
The annual Fitchburg Juneteenth Community Collaborative was moved from the Senior Center to Riverside Park this year and held as a festival. A large crowd came out for the event that featured prayer, song, food, entertainment, and remarks by Mayor Sam Squailia and two active community volunteers who are part of planning the yearly occasion — Rev. Annie Belmer and Leona Whetzel.
Juneteenth, also called Black freedom day, commemorates June 19, 1865, the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally received word of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President Abraham Lincoln. It was created as a federal holiday in 2021 and is traditionally a day of celebration and reflection.
Belmer, a Fitchburg resident, wears many hats, including pastor and founder of the Galilee Spiritual Life Center located at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on Main Street, TreeHouse Music Education Program founder and executive director, and last year’s honoree of a state Black Excellence Award.
She said the Juneteenth event is a “celebration of life” made possible because of the collaboration between many people and organizations in the community who work to ensure it continues, the opportunity “for all people to come together, all cultures, all races, all religions, everybody to become one.”
The festival was part of a full lineup of Juneteenth celebrations in the city, including the Juneteenth flag raised that morning at Riverfront Park, a parade and historical tour, a Juneteenth program at the Fitchburg Abolitionist Park featuring music, dance, and history, and the Buy Black Market at Fitchburg City Hall followed by an afterparty at Canvas by Coff33 Corp downtown.
Gathering of Hearts at the Fitchburg Abolitionist Park back in May was full of traditional dance, music, prayer, and spoken reflections led by cultural groups, community organizations, and faith leaders. Rising Fitchburg High School senior Diego Barahona and members of his youth indigenous group put together the event that brought residents of the city and surrounding area together for an afternoon of expression, reflection, and solidarity.
When asked how it went, the 17-year-old said “amazing.”
“It was how I imagined it to be, filled with prayer, song, culture, and resilience,” said Barahona, whose indigenous name is Guatu’niki, which means soul fire or heart of the fire. “Hearing the prayers said by people was something that warmed my heart.”
His favorite parts of the day for him personally were presenting with his Aunt Chali’naru Dones, dancing Bomba Puertoriqueña with Bomba de Aqui, “and having people come up and give prayers through the momoztli community altar in the language Nahuatl that Jose from Calpulli Tokalli Macehualli made.”
Ahead of the May 17 gathering, Barahona said that he wanted to introduce the community to traditions of peaceful cultural protest practiced throughout Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and Central America.
“The Gathering of Hearts was an initiative that was inspired by the amount of indigenous people I saw holding protests to advocate for their people,” he said then. “I wanted to do something more, not just scream and shout, but actually help reverse what damage our current administration is causing because I refuse to be a bystander and regret not standing up for what I strongly know is right.”
Barahona said they did just that and he is grateful to everyone who joined him in tranquil solidarity.
“We kept an air of peace, mourning, prayer, and community throughout the entire time,” the young man said. “This event warmed my heart, and it warmed many other people’s hearts as well.”
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