Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park hosts Juneteenth Atlanta 2021celebration
Photos By Kelly Jordan
ATLANTA—Centennial Olympic Park drew crowds eager to attend the Juneteenth Atlanta celebration, which was held June 18-20. The downtown festivities included a parade, national speakers, a community vendors’ market, cultural arts amphitheater and a variety of entertainment such as Double Dutch jump rope artists, yoga, martial arts, meditation fields, chess and other board games, bounce houses and face painting. Oh yes, and there were plenty of food trucks and concessions. Photographer Kelly Jordan covered the event.
About Kelly Jordan
Kelly Jordan has lived in Atlanta since 1968. He attended Emory University before he and partners revitalized Little Five Points into one of Atlanta’s most eclectic retail districts. Jordan is an environmentalist and has been leading the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance located in the city of Stonecrest. He enjoys covering natural and built environments, architecture, and historic events.
2 Comments
The first time I learned about Juneteenth was via the famous old photograph of some men and women ( about 4 or more) appearing to be going somewhere. I kept looking at as it was used in some advertising…which I seen in an older ajc newspaper ..I’m this case for Juneteenth about 7 years ago ,looking for things to do in the city. Not only did I wanted to go to the festival/ parade,but I wanted to learn more about the history behind it.
I got to attend the Juneteenth festival fir three years in a row before it was federalized while it was held in Vine City/ West End .It was quite fun. ( I’m still wondering about the young couple who announced their engagement to the world..Happy marriage to them.. hopefully) . I’m not from Galveston ,Texas (where the official Juneteenth began) but if it was this good in the ATL ,I could imagine how it is there. I got folks in Houston,Texas. If it weren’t for Covid,I would probably be trying to convince them to have it there around that date..lol!
Seriously, I also see Juneteenth as the celebrating the ancestors/ my ancestors. How they died for me and other African Americans,the lessons of telling me not to forget where I come from and not to forget about our struggles of out past and present.. especially,our continuing fight for civil / human rights.
Hopefully,I will be celebrating the ancestors during Watch ight and Juneteenth in 2022.
* for, watchnight