Juneteenth Freedom Festival 2025 Honors Ancestry and Awakens a People
- CUBNSC
- Jun 21
- 4 min read
By Javar Juarez | Columbia Urban Broadcast Network (CUBN)
Columbia, S.C. — And just like that, the 2025 Juneteenth Freedom Festival unfolded in downtown Columbia at the South Carolina Statehouse—vibrant, powerful, and brimming with pride. Beneath a scorching Southern sun, Black families, elders, children, and allies stood together, not simply in celebration, but in spiritual resistance. This year’s gathering was not just a party—it was a pilgrimage.
Held amidst the shadow of Confederate monuments and graves, the event was a striking act of reclamation. The Statehouse grounds, flanked by statues glorifying generals who fought to preserve slavery, became a canvas for something far greater: Black resilience, cultural memory, and a yearning to preserve what was never meant to survive. In every direction stood tributes to the Confederacy—above-ground burials of generals, including Wade Hampton III, one of America’s largest enslavers with over 3,000 men, women, and children held in bondage. His tomb still rests at the corner of Gervais and Sumter Streets, where today’s jubilee of freedom unfolded.
“We are still being liberated,” a speaker echoed from the main stage, “because we still gather, we still remember, and we still fight.”
Though Juneteenth officially marks June 19, 1865—when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation—Black Americans across the country continue to commemorate the date not as a relic of the past, but as a living, breathing movement. Especially now.
This year’s Juneteenth lands in the midst of rising racial hostility from the federal government, with executive actions and political rhetoric openly undermining civil rights, DEI initiatives, and even the historical truths that make days like Juneteenth so vital. Many attendees noted the irony: we are forced to celebrate freedom under a presidency that glorifies the very ideologies that sought to destroy us.
But still—we danced, we poured libations, we affirmed our ancestors.
In one of the most spiritually resonant moments of the festival, Baba Ruttashki of the House of Hathor Community Center led a ceremonial libation on stage, offering a stirring invocation for Black prosperity, protection, and ancestral reverence. Standing beside him, Jamal Bradley joined in the sacred ritual, their shared presence transforming the stage into a space of deep ancestral power and collective blessing.
“The ground had to be blessed,” one elder noted. “You cannot gather your people in such a charged place without calling on something higher.” - Ruttaskhi Aakhu Aba
And make no mistake—the place is charged. The Trinity Episcopal Church across the street, where members of the South Carolina Legislature have reportedly attended Confederate remembrance rituals, holds within its grounds the remains of those who fought for the preservation of slavery. To some, it’s just history. To many of us, it’s a hostile reminder of whose names still hold power in this state.
That eerie sense, that chill many describe when standing on Statehouse grounds, is not imagined. It is the weight of generational trauma mixed with spiritual warfare—a knowledge that the past has not yet passed.
“We wrestle not against flesh and blood,” one speaker quoted, “but against principalities and powers in high places.”
From that knowledge came clarity. Unity. Purpose.
Despite the political backdrop, the event was filled with joy. Children played. Families shared plates of food beneath tents. Vendors, musicians, dancers, and artists transformed a space built to intimidate into a place that radiated Black excellence.
Behind the scenes, a circle of elders ensured that the day began right. Long before the music started or streets were blocked off, prayers were said, spiritual protection was offered, and blessings were given—because we know that Juneteenth is more than just a cultural celebration. It is warfare of the highest kind: the reclaiming of memory, land, and identity.
That’s why this year’s festival was more than a success—it was a sacred victory.
To the organizers of the Juneteenth Freedom Festival, your work continues to matter deeply. From your recent recognition in the chambers of Richland County Government to your continued commitment to people over politics, we thank you.
Let us never forget that South Carolina was once the epicenter of the American slave economy. That Columbia was built—literally—on the backs of our ancestors. And that those same ancestors made way for us to stand proudly today.
We honor them. We honor each other. We honor Juneteenth.
📸 Were You There? JUNETEENTH FREEDOM FESTIVAL RIGHT ON TIME
View our full image reel from today’s festivities. If you spot yourself, email us at news@cubnsc.com to be entered into our Juneteenth Giveaway—with prizes including tech gear and exclusive event tickets. Follow us on Facebook: CUBNSC
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Happy Juneteenth. Stay free. Stay fierce. Stay Black.
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