Juneteenth celebrated at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery
Patients and staff at Montgomery’s Jackson Hospital were able to participate in Juneteenth without even having to leave the hospital grounds.
A celebration was held at the hospital yesterday, featuring music and several speakers.
“Juneteenth was about freeing the black enslaved, but it has grown,” Wanda Battle, the founder of Legendary Tours in Montgomery, said. “It is greater than that. It’s about all of us coming together to a place where we support and respect one another and we appreciate each other’s culture and continue to work to love and serve one another.”
“The reality, that they were freed and their freedom, it was delayed, but it wasn’t denied. That conversation and reality, even as we put in the conversation with Jackson Hospital, the fact that many are looking for healing. Many are ready for healing and it’s coming,” Rev. Lee Walker, Jr., the pastor at New Home Missionary Baptist Church in Mt. Meigs, said.
“It’s a beautiful thing that they’re doing to connect with the community on this special day. I’m quite gratified of people taking the time to come out. We had some fun events this morning, food trucks and such, but this is the important part,” Jackson Hospital CEO Ronald Dreskin said.
This was the first year that Jackson Hospital had a on-site celebration for Juneteenth.
