Spartanburg commemorates, celebrates Juneteenth. Here are the rest of the weekend's events.

Spartanburg Juneteenth Inc. hosted week-long events to celebrate and commemorate the national holiday.

In Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, enslaved African Americans received the news that they were now free. The emancipation of the former slaves was celebrated with food and gatherings that became known as Juneteenth.

In Spartanburg, events began with Thursday's Night of Spoken Word at the Chapman Cultural Center. Friday night's Block Party brought a big crowd downtown. Juneteenth gatherings continued Saturday with a festival at Barnet Park (until 7 p.m.) and Sunday at Cornerstone Baptist Church (begins at 5 p.m.

Juneteenth in Spartanburg: Here's what to know about Saturday and Sunday's Juneteenth events. 

Night of Spoken Word at Chapman Cultural Center

The Night of Spoken Word was hosted at the Chapman Cultural Center in downtown Spartanburg. Attendees danced to live music - inside and outside - and a display featured local artists.

Live music was performed by the band, Soulified 7. Band member Jerrel Dean found that it was important for the band to perform at the event.

"It's super important for us to express our appreciation for our freedom across the board on every spectrum and platform we can." Dean said. "Through music, through poetry and art, it's very crucial for us to celebrate the freedom that we have."

Juneteenth in Spartanburg: Here's what to know about Saturday and Sunday's Juneteenth events. 

Mayor Jerome Rice: Spartanburg celebrates Juneteenth with joy and resolve

Through the event, the crowd became more aware as to what Juneteenth represents.

"We are very excited to have everybody, all ethnicities, to bring more awareness to Juneteenth. It's not just the parties but it's about learning more about the history, where we come from and how we fought to be here" said Sharee Allen, the event planner with the B.R.U.H Mentorship Program. "We're just excited to have folks in the community giving back. We've come a long way and still have a long ways to go, but we're definitely headed in the right direction."

Destiny Grill, 10, said she's interested in learning more about the history of Juneteenth.

"It's nice to know that there is a whole week just about my skin and about how we were freed from slavery" Grill said. "I'm mostly looking forward to how this [Juneteenth] happened and learning more about it."

Skylar Means, 12, agreed with her friend as they danced and enjoyed the night.

"It feels so good to be around people just like me," Means said. "We can celebrate together. I'm just so excited to be out here with everyone and celebrate with them."

District 1 County Councilman Mo Abusaft, the founder of Spartanburg Juneteenth Inc., was also at the event, eager for what the night had to offer.

"It's always been important to us that Juneteenth is more than just a good time. The Spoken Word really brings work of art. We have a really strong Spoken Work culture here in Spartanburg, and they really put a deep amount of work into their works that really brings out the essence of Juneteenth," Abusaft said. "The pain, the celebration, the Black excellence, it really brings something to the community that educates the history of Juneteenth."

Monier Abusaft: Juneteenth's lessons are important for the Spartanburg community

National Award Winning Poet, Moody Black, selected the five performers for the event, and performed his own poems of inspiration.

"We, as African people, are storytellers. This component was very important because these are the modern-day storyellers," Moody Black said. "Their poems offer a lot of inspiration, and I hand-picked these poets because they're at a massive level at what they do. They can be very powerful in giving their message to the people."

Juneteenth Block Party in downtown Spartanburg

The block party was filled with excitement as the community gathered downtown to celebrate.

A live DJ and music entertained the crowd.

"It's the representation and empowerment in the Black community," said Mykeria Gory at the block party. "I'm very, very excited to see what they have in store for us tonight and to keep our community pumped up."

As the night progressed, the crowd grew.

"We wanted to come out and celebrate everything about Juneteenth," said William Brown of Boiling Springs. "I brought my son and his grandma, and we plan to come to many more events in the future. We have music in our blood."

The Epsilon Nu chapter of Omega Psi Phi volunteered for the event by selling beverages.

Bernard Wheeler, the President of Alum for the Epsilon Nu chapter, with 120 members, said that their chapter has been in Spartanburg since June 10, 1967.

"We've had various programs from Omega Raiders, Miss Black Spartanburg Pageant and even a mentorship program at the Bethlehem Center," Wheeler stated. "Anytime we can volunteer and partner and be a part of an initiative that promotes community is something we hope to do. We're happy to be a part of Juneteenth and all that it means to our ancestors and the community as well."

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg celebrates Juneteenth with exciting events for community