When Kenny Adams joined The Father’s Group in 2021, he was a concerned father, hoping to create solutions for racism in central Oregon schools. Fast forward to 2024, and Adams is the organizer behind the largest cultural festival in central Oregon: the Juneteenth Central Oregon Jubilee.

“There’s not really any other cultural festival that’s geared at the Black community that happens in central Oregon right now,” Adams said. “So, if we’re gonna have a big festival, we want to blow it out and give people the chance to feel relaxed.”

The fourth annual Juneteenth Central Oregon Jubilee will take place 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. June 15 and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. June 16 at Drake Park in Bend. The event will feature African, Caribbean and African American cuisine, art, music and education.

“Our theme is Jubilee and we want to make sure that we get a chance to just revel in freedom and legacy, but also it’s a reminder that it also took this country two years to actually let everyone know that they were free,” Adams said.

Juneteenth is a national holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people on June 19, 1865. This occurred more than two months after Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered and two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Union troops arrived in the coastal city of Galveston, Texas, to enforce the emancipation order.

Known as America’s second Independence Day, Juneteenth has been celebrated by the Black community since its inception and was declared a federal holiday in 2021. Officially recognized in Oregon in 2022, Juneteenth celebrations take place across the state from early to mid-June.

The Father’s Group, a Black-led nonprofit, was established in 2018 following the death of 14-year-old Deshaun Adderley, a Black student at Summit High School in Bend who had been bullied and racially harassed before he died by suicide.

“There were also several other Black community members that were dealing with several levels of racism in the school systems,” said Adams, who is now executive director and board president of The Father’s Group.

A group of Black fathers came together to discuss these issues and find solutions. It was originally a sort of support group, said Adams. But the organization has since grown to create its own programming, educational resources and the annual Juneteenth festival.

“We went from just doing backpack drives and things of that nature to having a full scale afterschool program that we meet multiple times during each semester,” Adams said.

Their most populous event is the Juneteenth festival, which has grown into a two-day event.

“It’s really nice to see everyone come together, of every color, of every race, just come together, eat food, participate in all of the dancing that they’re doing on the stage,” said Jermaine Ellis, a food vendor at the festival. “It really just feels like it’s a start to building the community together.”

One of the main attractions of the festival is its celebration of food. This year, the festival will feature a blend of African Caribbean and African American cuisine.

Ellis said he is excited to return as a vendor this year. He is in the process of transforming his business into a food truck: Jermaican Jerkculture, offering Jamaican Jerk food inspired by his cultural heritage.

“It’s one of the first events in central Oregon that I’ve ever been to [where] I’ve seen that many people of color in one location,” Ellis said.

Since relocating to central Oregon in 2017, Ellis has observed a positive shift in the area’s diversity. Although Deschutes County, which encompasses Bend and the surrounding area, is over 85% white, the population has steadily grown more diverse over the past decade. Between 2010 and 2022, the Black population doubled from 531 to 1,094 residents.

“We make up less than 1% of the population in this area,” Adams said. “So being able to find people within our community was kind of few and far between.”

Many vendors and performers come from out of state to participate in the festival, which serves as both a celebration and an educational event.

“We not only break down stereotypes that are usually pushed upon the Black community, but we also help people learn and understand what we’ve actually contributed to this country,” Adams said.

During this year’s festival, an expanded pop-up museum exhibit dives into multiple facets of Black history in partnership with the High Desert Museum and other local Black, Indigenous and People of Color organizations. Some of the exhibits focus on Black inventors and influences in arts and culture.

“We really take this absolutely seriously with a call to the reverence and respect of our heritage and the promotion of true history,” said Adams. “The people that come out, not only are they going to have a good time … but they’re also going to learn something.”

Adams hopes to eventually coordinate with other Juneteenth celebrations across the country to include live broadcasts of their events.

“It’s time that we link our together and really show that unification not just in Oregon, but across the country,” Adams said.

Learn more about Juneteenth celebrations across Oregon here.

— Chiara Profenna covers religion, faith and cultural connections. Reach her at 503-221-4327; cprofenna@oregonian.com or @chiara_profenna

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