Suburbs to mark Juneteenth with celebrations this weekend
Several suburbs will mark the Juneteenth federal and state holiday this weekend with community festivals.
Considered the longest-running African American holiday and observed June 19, Juneteenth marks the day federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure all enslaved people were freed. The troops' arrival came 2½ years after signing of the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery.
The African-American Coalition of Kane County's annual Juneteenth Celebration will be held from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday at Festival Park in Elgin. The event celebrates Black culture with food, history, arts, and entertainment.
On June 19, Elgin will host a virtual Juneteenth Open Mic event from 7 to 10 p.m., with music, poetry, hip-hop and jazz performances to support Black artists and businesses.
For tickets, visit tinyurl.com/2p8mfut4.
Youth summit
Aurora will host a Juneteenth Youth Summit from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. June 19 in the city's downtown.
The summit is for young Black leaders in middle and high schools, and college. It will include informative sessions and feature a keynote address from America's youngest Black mayor, Jaylen Smith of Earle, Arkansas. He was elected mayor of his hometown at age 18.
Additional speakers will address topics such as education, entrepreneurship, and equity in action. Attendees also will participate in activities teaching the value of self-advocacy and the importance of building a strong network of resources to support career and educational goals.
Participants will be honored at the Aurora Juneteenth Flag Raising immediately following the summit, with special recognition for the Class of 2023 high school and college graduates. The first winners of the Mr. and Miss Black Aurora Pageant, Peter Eta, a senior at Waubonsie Valley High School, and Charitee Bouchee-Cocroft, a junior at East Aurora High School, also will be honored.
Register at tinyurl.com/3dv4hh8f.
Free meals
The city of Aurora will provide all children access to free and nutritious boxed meals all summer long.
The Northern Illinois Food Bank will offer its Meals on the Move program each weekday at four Aurora parks through Aug. 11 on the following schedule:
• 11 a.m.-noon: Garfield Park playground, 350 N. Sheffer Road, and at the Phillips Park Visitors' Center, 1000 Ray Moses Drive
• 12:30-1:30 p.m.: McCarty Park, 350 E. Galena Blvd., and Plum Park, 337 Plum St.
Weekday meals must be eaten on site.
Meals on the Move includes a Friday Fresh Market. Families will be provided take-home lunches every Friday, along with fruits and vegetables. No registration or identification is required.
Elder abuse awareness
June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month, and June 15 is recognized as World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
It officially was launched in 2006 by the International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations.
Elder abuse can involve physical and emotional injury as well as financial exploitation.
The Elgin Police Department is partnering with Senior Services Associates to offer a brief presentation for seniors from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday at 205 Fulton St. To register, call (847) 741-0404 or the Community Relations and Crime Prevention Unit at (847) 289-2530.
For more information, visit ncea.acl.gov/Resources/Elder-Rights-(1).aspx.
Business innovators
Elmhurst University recently opened a new E-celerator Innovation Space and recognized two students whose idea took first prize in the competitive Big Idea startup pitch contest held at College of DuPage.
The E-celerator is a dedicated physical space in the A.C. Buehler Library. It's designed to foster student entrepreneurship.
Innovation DuPage, a business incubator/accelerator, partnered with the university to help launch the E-celerator and provide ideas for programming. The Elmhurst University Innovation Committee awarded a grant that helped cover the renovation costs.
Elmhurst University seniors Miftha Syed of Lombard and Aaliya Khaja of Addison beat nearly 40 other applicants to win the $5,000 first-place prize at the Big Idea Pitch Contest, hosted by Innovation DuPage and the College of DuPage.
Their winning pitch was for their app Instapark, which uses geolocation to help college and university commuters find open parking spots on campus. Their solution also demonstrated the ability to provide revenue-sharing advertising from local businesses to app users.
Syed and Khaja also received a six-month membership to Innovation DuPage and access to expert and mentoring resources to help refine their idea.
African American history
Landmarks Illinois has donated the iconic Ebony Test Kitchen from the former Johnson Publishing Company Building in Chicago to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
The test kitchen, which Landmarks Illinois saved from demolition in 2018, will be a part of the Smithsonian museum's permanent collection. The kitchen will undergo conservation work as the museum develops new plans for its construction and future use.
Landmarks Illinois spent five years preserving the Ebony Test Kitchen to give future generations the opportunity to learn about its important role in Black history and culinary history. The test kitchen helps tell the story of the Johnson Publishing Co., the country's most influential African American publisher of its time.
“We cannot think of a more suitable home for the iconic kitchen than the (National Museum of African American History and Culture), which welcomes millions of visitors every year in our nation's capital,” said Bonnie McDonald, president and CEO of Landmarks Illinois.
The Ebony Test Kitchen previously was housed in the Johnson Publishing Co. Building, designed by John Warren Moutoussamy, at 820 S. Michigan Ave.
When the building opened in 1971, Moutoussamy became the first Black architect to have designed a building on Chicago's Michigan Avenue. It now is a Chicago landmark.
The Test Kitchen was used for decades by Ebony Magazine food editors to test recipes that would appear in the publication.
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