It’s First Friday at KC’s 18th & Vine. Everybody’s invited, and we’re RSVPing yes
The vision is a beautiful thing: hundreds of Kansas Citians of all ages and races filling 18th Street from Vine Street to Highland Avenue, enjoying music, buying crafts and chowing down on barbecue.
That’s what Makeda Peterson, program director for Juneteenth KC, is hoping to see Friday as the historic 18th & Vine Jazz District hosts its first outdoor First Friday event of the year.
“Everybody is invited,” said Peterson, adding that she is hoping the event will take off and that the entire city, not just its Black residents, will support the effort.
“We want to see the community come together here,” Peterson said. And it should. Wouldn’t it be great to have this First Friday start something special in this historic district?
It’s also a dress rehearsal of sorts for the Juneteenth celebration scheduled to happen there on June 19th. Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. and for at least 150 years has been celebrated by millions of Black Americans as an independence day with parades, barbecues and family get-togethers.
While Juneteenth has been a major annual celebration at 18th & Vine since it was started by Peterson’s father, Horace Peterson, in 1980, most of the people who attend are Black. But it’s not a Black-people-only celebration, Peterson said. “It is a celebration of freedom and the right to freedom and of our resilience as a whole community and of our culture.”
After George Floyd’s death last summer sparked a national reckoning on race in this country, Juneteenth celebrations gained broader popularity.
Outside of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the American Jazz Museum and the Gem Theater at 18th & Vine, a lot of white Kansas City may not have seen much of a reason to visit the district. But Peterson thinks that’s about to change “because, over the last year there has been more curiosity from outside communities to learn about African American culture, but I think maybe they don’t know how to involve themselves and to feel welcomed.”
Juneteenth organizers work hard to attract crowds
She said Juneteenth organizers have worked hard — collaborating with another group, Strength on The Vine, which represents businesses in the district including the Kansas City Juke House, Soiree Steak & Oyster House, Corner Bar & Grill and the Velvet Freeze Daiquiris — on this First Friday event.
Since March, she said, the groups have hosted indoor First Friday events with social distancing and masks because of city COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
With funding from the Kansas City’s Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, First Friday events on the Vine are scheduled for each month through October and will feature street vendors, food trucks, baked goods, games and music. Peterson said the district has hired private security to walk the streets, and Kansas City police officers will also be on patrol until 10 p.m.
“We hope that people will come out here and enjoy and have fun, and visit the businesses that are here. Have a cocktail at the Juke House or the Oyster Bar,” Peterson said, adding that “a lot of businesses are coming out of the pandemic,” and looking forward to First Friday as a restart.
Before the pandemic, First Friday in the Crossroads was a huge success, with thousands from all over the metropolitan area attending. It slowed after a young woman was shot and killed by a stray bullet fired during a fight there one August night in 2019, but was on the rebound before the pandemic hit.
The 18th & Vine District has struggled since it was conceived in 1997, when then-mayor Emanuel Cleaver announced formation of the Jazz District Redevelopment Corporation to kick off economic development efforts in the area located just east of the Crossroads area.
Over the years, millions of dollars have been poured into the district, businesses have come and gone, many of them lasting only a year or two, trying to take hold.
Back in 2018, when Jermaine Reed was a member of the Kansas City Council and the city released a report on its first phase of an improvement plan for the district, he said, “the community is the core to the success of 18th & Vine.”
The community in this case must be a diverse population that extends beyond the central city. It’s going to take folks from all the city’s neighborhoods visiting the historic district on First Fridays to make Peterson’s vision real. To, as she says, “get the vibe of the district, get to know the people in the district, engage, enjoy, have fun,” and see it come alive.