‘We can move forward together’ - After finding new home in Yorkville, Juneteenth celebration set

There is no Edmund Pettus Bridge between Plano and Yorkville.

But, Jamal Williams knows that does not mean there isn’t a divide worth crossing.

When Plano cancelled the fifth annual Juneteenth Celebration that Williams helped organize, the planning committee remained undeterred. They headed east to Yorkville, with the promise to return.

This year’s ‘Juneteenth in Kendall County – A Celebration of Love & Education’ featuring entertainment, live performances, food and family fun, is from 4 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday at Yorkville Congregational United Church of Christ, 409 Center Parkway, Yorkville.

The event is free and all members of the community are welcome to join the festivities.

Juneteenth is a federal holiday commemorating when news of the Emancipation of Proclamation ending slavery finally reached those still enslaved in Texas on June 19, 1865.

“I’m excited for the people in Plano who were on the fence about it and can now see their neighbors down the street actively involved in the event,” said Williams, a former Plano alderman for eight year. “It has engaged and ignited them. We’ve already started planning for 2026 to come back to Plano. Because Yorkville has been so open and receiving, we may do multiple events next year. Everyone is super excited. We may do a walk from Yorkville to Plano, too.”

While the holiday commemorates the delivery of rights promised in The Declaration of Independence, Williams said some community members in Plano feared the event diminished or wanted to take over the Fourth of July.

Other residents said the event was inherently political, promoting Democrats at the expense of Republicans.

We are planting positive seeds and hoping they grow into something even bigger and better.”

—  Jamal Williams, former Plano alderman

During the Civil War, the 1,251 Kendall County soldiers fought for the Union. One in 10 county residents served, with 247 men dying during their service. The Kendall County Record newspaper was founded in 1864 by John Redman Marshall who served the Union for two years, including at the battle of Antietam.

Anti-slavery roots ran deep in the community, with abolitionist sermons being held at Yorkville’s Chapel on the Green, which was also part of the Underground Railroad.

“I hope the nastiness goes away, I hope people understand this is an event for everybody,” Williams said. “The only way we can move forward as a group is to understand the past. If you can understand where racism came from, you can better observe it and overcome it. Trying to acknowledge it never happened or just pointing the finger only keeps us fighting back and forth. If you’re black or white, Democrat or Republican, old or young, we can move forward together.”

Williams plans on doing this by highlighting the community’s diversity during the event.

The Juneteenth festivities include the Yorkville Step Team, the Double Dutch over 40 team, live poetry and speeches, games and raffles, food, and live music by The Hurricane Project.

Williams said he is proud of the scholarship fund the committee began during Black History Month in which they were able to award a couple thousand dollars to local students.

He said he wants the recipients of scholarships to return each year to help award the next year’s prizes to the next generation of leaders in the community.

“It helps let the community know we are not just here for a party, we want to invest in the community, we want to send kids off to school on a positive path knowing there are people in the community that are behind them,” Williams said.

The scholarship is emblematic of everything the organizers of the Juneteenth event are trying to accomplish, he said.

“If people in the community see an individual moving forward with something positive, it may ignite a kid, a teacher, an alderman, to know that all things are possible and that there is strength in numbers,” Williams said. “Hopefully, in putting forth that energy, someone else will take the torch and run with it. We are planting positive seeds and hoping they grow into something even bigger and better.”

You can learn more about the Juneteenth celebration and the featured events by visiting juneteenthplanoil.com/.