BALTIMORE — Crowds of people in Baltimore celebrated Juneteenth Thursday.
WATCH: Crowds of people in Baltimore celebrated Juneteenth Thursday.
The holiday commemorates the day the last of the enslaved people in Texas learned they were finally free.
At the Black Ass Flea Market's Rhythm Liberation Fest, owner Brianne Mobley told WMAR 2 News that the celebration was a chance to highlight Black artists and circulate the Black dollar throughout the community.
"It's a day when we just get to be ourselves, we get to move in joy. It's a day about liberation; it's a day about freedom, fun, and music," Mobley said. "Celebrate Black folks every day; celebrate the fact that we are the arts and the culture. Baltimore is a Black renaissance, and I'm just grateful to be in this space."
Even heavy rain couldn't stop people from having fun.
"The work shows all of our hard efforts like it's seen, the impact is felt, and it's just so appreciated. We were singing in the rain, literally singing."
Another celebration in Baltimore chose to go a different route to enjoy the holiday, with Diamon Fisher putting on a jazz and gospel event called Exalted.
"I see a lot of the same things in terms of, like, pan-African-centered marketplaces, which is great, but I do think that Black people deserve opulence, they deserve luxury, they deserve leisure, and they deserve to just sit back, not sell a bunch of things, and be in the moment," Fisher said. "I wanna continue to create these experiences for my community, for our people."
This is the fourth year since Juneteenth was made a national holiday.
This is Exalted's sixth year, and Fisher doesn't plan on stopping any time soon.
