Bolingbrook, suburbs celebrate Juneteenth, suggest communitywide approach

Juneteenth mostly is celebrated by black people commemorating the end of slavery, but a Bolingbrook business owner says it's time for it to be a communitywide celebration.

Lawrence Cooper, owner of Coop's Den restaurant in Bolingbrook and founder of Bolingbrook's second annual Juneteenth Community Festival, said he saw the transformation taking place during Saturday's festival.

"We had 3,000 people out on the hill (at Bolingbrook's Community Performing Center) Saturday and everyone was singing to the music, dancing and having a great time," Cooper said. "The theme of any Juneteenth celebration is 'coming together' so we need to move past the things that happened during slavery. Don't get me wrong. It's important to keep our history but it's time to be one community."

In addition to the live music and food, Saturday's celebration, like other Juneteenth events, also focused on education and self-improvement.

Cooper said he first considered bringing the celebration to Bolingbrook two years ago when planning was underway for the village's 50 anniversary, celebrated last year.

"It was the 50th anniversary of this great, diverse community that I live in and the 150 anniversary of Juneteenth so I thought the events would fit perfectly with each other," Cooper said. "We've had a great two years so I'm hopeful we can keep the celebration coming for decades to come."