William Locke, 5, holds a misting machine as he stands next to his sister Sarah, 3,, in the parking lot outside the Akron Urban League during Saturday's Juneteenth Celebration. Live music, vendors, food and family activities highlighted this annual cultural celebration, part of a larger three-day commemoration hosted by the Urban League, Akron NAACP and Freedom BLOC. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)
The three-day Juneteenth “Stronger Together” celebration, put on by The Akron Urban League, Akron NAACP and Freedom BLOC, culminated Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of the Akron Urban League in Sherbondy Hill with a stage with live entertainment, vendors, food trucks and family activities.
Earlier in the week, the celebration included a food distribution on Wednesday, a conversation about solidarity economies on Friday and the 50th annual West Akron Parade on Saturday morning.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday celebrated on June 19. It marks June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned of their emancipation, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed a proclamation giving enslaved people their freedom.
See photos from the 50th annual West Akron Parade, Juneteenth Edition.
Attendees sit in the shade under a tree in the parking lot outside the Akron Urban League during Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration. Live music, vendors, food and family activities highlighted this annual cultural celebration, part of a larger commemoration that included a food distribution event Wednesday, the West Akron Parade and a Juneteenth Education & Celebration event Friday. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)Keith Orr and Dominque Hill dance in front of their canopy for Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, committed to brotherhood, scholarship and service, as live music plays at the Akron Urban League during Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration. Vendors, food and family activities highlighted this annual cultural celebration, part of a larger three-day commemoration hosted by the Urban League, Akron NAACP and Freedom BLOC. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)Dancers fill a section of the parking lot outside the Akron Urban League during Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration. Live music, vendors, food and family activities highlighted this annual cultural celebration, part of a larger commemoration that included a food distribution event Wednesday, the West Akron Parade and a Juneteenth Education & Celebration event Friday. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)Members of the Wallke Boys, a Youngstown-area e-bike club, show off their rides in the parking lot at the Akron Urban League during Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration. Vendors, food and family activities highlighted this annual cultural celebration, part of a larger three-day commemoration hosted by the Urban League, Akron NAACP and Freedom BLOC. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)Gina El carries Lilo, her bearded dragon lizard, around the parking lot at the Akron Urban League during Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration. Vendors, food and family activities highlighted this annual cultural celebration, part of a larger three-day commemoration hosted by the Urban League, Akron NAACP and Freedom BLOC. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)Sharae and Delos Irvine shelter their kids from a rainstorm toward the end of the Akron Urban League’s Juneteenth Celebration. on Saturday. Vendors, food and family activities highlighted this annual cultural celebration, part of a larger three-day commemoration hosted by the Urban League, Akron NAACP and Freedom BLOC. (Susan Zake / Signal Akron)
Editor-in-Chief (she/her)
Zake has deep roots in Northeast Ohio journalism. She was the managing editor for multimedia and special projects at the Akron Beacon Journal, where she began work as a staff photographer in 1986. Over a 20-year career, Zake worked in a variety of roles across departments that all help inform her current role as Signal Akron's editor in chief. Most recently, she was a journalism professor and student media adviser at Kent State University, where she worked with the next generation of journalists to understand public policy, environmental reporting, data and solutions reporting. Among her accomplishments was the launch of the Kent State NewsLab, an experiential and collaborative news commons that connects student reporters with outside professional partners.
