Juneteenth in Rondo neighborhood: A history of resiliency that reflects current events
Rondo neighborhood event celebrates Juneteenth
The Rondo neighborhood in St. Paul held an event Thursday to celebrate Juneteenth, the official end of slavery. Gov. Tim Walz was among the dignitaries on hand.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - Under the hot sun of a June day, a few blocks in the Rondo neighborhood celebrated Juneteenth with a mix of remembering painful history and a celebration of resiliency.
Celebrating Rondo
The backstory:
The Rondo of St. Paul neighborhood was ripped apart, beginning in the late 1950s, with the building of Interstate 94. The freeway was plotted right through what politicians of the era considered a slum. No one who lived there would agree with that description.
"It’s a collection of families that have been through so much," said Nekheti Nefer-Ra, who is the descendant of people who were enslaved. Her grandparents moved north and settled in Rondo. She still lives here.
"Even though it wasn’t the Rondo that my parents knew, the community was still intact," she explained.
Nekheti was one of four people featured in the Juneteenth program, telling stories of their family's experience in the rich culture of Rondo.
"There’s a knit, there’s a fabric that has been woven together over these years and so it’s still a joy for me to say I live in this community."
The shadow of political violence
What they're saying:
This celebration of Juneteenth came in the wake of the murders of former House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, along with the attempted murders of Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. In remarks during the Rondo Observance, Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan noted that Melissa Hortman’s work towards better treatment of all Minnesotans will benefit generations to come.
"Including passing the bill in 2023 to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday," Flanagan said. "That happened under her leadership and is part of her legacy."
Governor Tim Walz noted there was nowhere he’d rather celebrate Juneteenth than in Rondo, comparing the resiliency needed to deal with the pain and grief the state feels now with what Rondo has shown for generations.
"For a community that was quite literally torn apart by that freeway we hear, it may have tore at the community physically, but it didn’t dampen the spirit, and it didn’t tear the soul out of this community," Walz said.
"And this cowardly act, this attack on someone who poured her life into public service, may tear at the fabric of our state, but it will not dampen our commitment to everyone being included," he added.