Aurora to honor Juneteenth during a weeklong series of events
The City of Aurora is celebrate Juneteenth holiday with a week of community events and activities, beginning with the Mr. and Miss Black Aurora crowning ceremony and concluding on Juneteenth with the annual flag-raising ceremony.
From kings and queens to fraternities and sororities and from new Black-owned businesses to a new Black-focused mural, Aurora’s commitment to equity and inclusion — and its historically significant Black community — will be on full display during Juneteenth Week.
On Thursday, June 13, at 6 p.m., the City of Aurora and the Aurora African American Heritage Advisory Board host the Mr. and Miss Black Aurora crowning ceremony. A competition of high school students, the crowning ceremony will announce the king, queen, prince, and princess of the Aurora Black Heritage Royal Court. The ceremony will feature oratorical presentations from the students, performances from local youth groups, and a keynote address from Fox 32 Chicago Anchor Anita Blanton, who was crowned Miss Hampton University 20 years ago in 2004.
On Friday, June 14, nearly 150 members of Black fraternities and sororities will convene at 9 a.m. at Phillips Park to provide food to 1,000 families ahead of the Juneteenth and Father’s Day Weekend. A collaboration between the City of Aurora, the Northern Illinois Food Bank, and the Aurora Divine 9 Alliance, a coalition of members of the nine historically Black fraternities and sororities, this is the fourth annual Juneteenth Food Distribution Drive-Thru that provides meal boxes, including meat and produce, on a first-come, first-served basis to 1000 families. The event will be held at Phillips Park, 1000 Ray Moses Drive.
On Saturday, June 15, the City of Aurora and the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce will cut the ribbon on a special addition to Aurora's business landscape at noon. Business owners Donna Jolly and Steven Evans have opened HaloHeat Sauna Studios, a studio designed to enhance health, promote relaxation, and foster a community of wellness enthusiasts. The studio offers the ancient healing benefits of salt therapy and the rejuvenating power of saunas. HaloHeat Sauna Studios is located at 4040 Fox Valley Drive.
On Saturday, June 15, the 23rd annual Juneteenth Freedom and Heritage Celebration will be hosted by African American Men of Unity, the City of Aurora, and Aurora Township. The celebration from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. features live music, educational activities, a talent show, and basketball tournaments. The event will be held at Martin Luther King Park, 42 N. Farnsworth Ave.
On Tuesday, June 18, Aurora’s newest downtown mural — A Tribute to Black Blues Artists — will be inaugurated on Juneteenth Eve with a Meet the Muralist and ribbon-cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. Chicago-based artist Max Sansing has used his customary recognizable style of photo-realistic portraits and abstract use of color to give a nod to the historic Bluebird Records recording sessions of the 1930s at the Leland Hotel in downtown Aurora. The mural features the likenesses of Chicago Blues Legend Buddy Guy, the Queen of Blues Koko Taylor, the King of Blues B.B. King, the Guitar Wizard Tampa Red, and the Young Legend Stevie Ray Vaughan. The ceremony will be hosted at the site of the mural, 31 S. Broadway in downtown Aurora.
On Wednesday, June 19, the annual Juneteenth Youth Summit will bring together nearly 150 Black youth from the Aurora area for a morning of educational workshops from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. With a theme, “A Different World,” a nod to the culturally iconic television sitcom about Black college life, the youth summit will feature workshops on college planning, financial preparation, interacting with the police, and a special conversation with Black superintendents of Aurora school districts. The summit will be held at North Island Center, 8 E. Galena Blvd.
On Wednesday, June 19, youth summit participants will merge with community members at the annual Aurora Juneteenth flag-raising ceremony, named in honor of the late trailblazer Scheketa Hart-Burns, who passed away unexpectedly on June 19, 2023. The flag raising ceremony at 1 p.m. will feature a presentation of the annual proclamation and heritage awards, guest speakers Major General Rodney Boyd, Commander of the Illinois National Guard, the first Black person to hold the post, and ABC 7 News Culture and Race Reporter Jasmine Minor, and entertainment from saxophonist Derek Tate, Dream Dance Academy, and the award-winning 40+ Double Dutch Club. The ceremony will be held immediately outside of North Island Center at One Aurora Plaza, 8 E. Galena Blvd.
More on Aurora’s Juneteenth activities can be found online at www.aurora-il.org/Juneteenth2024.