A Des Moines public bus is honoring Juneteenth in a new way
As the courthouse bells were ringing outside of the DART Central Station on Thursday morning, the regional public transportation system revealed its new Juneteenth-themed bus to commemorate the federal holiday that celebrates the end of slavery.
The bus is wrapped with two pictures — one of President Joe Biden in 2021 signing into law that June 19, also known as Juneteenth, is a federal holiday. The other is a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. at the front of the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, an event that was pivotal to the passage that year of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark achievement of the civil rights movement.
Also on the DART bus are photos of Gary Lawson, Iowa Juneteenth founder, and Dwana Bradley, the general chairperson of Iowa Juneteenth, as well as spotlights from sponsors that helped the project come to fruition. Iowa Juneteenth is a nonprofit organization that educates Iowans on the history and significance of June 19, 1865 — the day it was announced to all enslaved African Americans that slavery was abolished in the United States.
It's hosting events June 9-23 this year, with the DART bus unveiling as the kickoff.
More: Iowa History Month: Iowa’s Juneteenth roots run deep
There are about 15,000 people who ride DART each month and some may get picked up on the Juneteenth bus this month.
“(The) big thing for me about Juneteenth is history and making people know our history. And those two pictures you see on the side of the bus really speaks to history," said Bradley, who added she hasn’t seen a Juneteenth-themed bus in the city of Des Moines in her lifetime.
Bradley said she always dreamt of advertising the organization on a DART bus but thought the idea was above her reach and too expensive.
“I was getting quoted years ago and people were saying, ‘You don’t want to do that girl 'cause it can cost well over $40,000,’” Bradley said. “I never fact checked to make sure that was the case and once I found out about the pricing it ended up being something I can go after.”
Finally, Bradley took the initiative to speak with Dakoda Hall, marketing and communications coordinator for DART, and Parker Anderson, public transit media consultant at Adsposure, a company that specializes in transit advertising.
Anderson said it took about eight art proofs to create the final product.
“I couldn’t be any more proud and this is probably one of my favorite projects that I’ve worked on with DART ever,” Anderson said.
Bradley said she hopes that when people step on the bus, they not only see themselves, but also feel like they are a part of the city. Only one bus will be carrying the Juneteenth legacy, but Bradley hopes to continue the tradition annually.
“This came out better than I imagined,” Bradley said. “When you look at this bus you can distinctively tell who you are looking at, who it is, and what events took place.”
Nixson Benítez is a breaking news intern at the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at nbenitez@registermedia.com
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Why a new Des Moines bus has Juneteenth images
