Buffalo’s first Juneteenth Festival filled Jefferson Avenue with thousands of people in 1976. Five decades later, that spirit will return to a plot of land where another chapter of Black Buffalo history once unfolded.
On Sunday, the Sostre-Pointer Liberation Garden at 1412 Jefferson Avenue will host a community cookout featuring food, games, live art and performances centered on Black liberation.
“I grew up on things like block parties and that is just something that ... is very important in Black culture, and that just should be passed along," said Ka'Lea Griffin, a co-organizer and host for the event.
The garden occupies the original site of Martin Sostre’s Afro-Asian Bookshop, which opened in the 1960s as a hub for political education and Black revolutionary thought.
Sostre and Geraldine Pointer were arrested there in 1967 on drug charges. The Justice for Geraldine and Martin campaign maintains they were framed and seeks to have their convictions vacated.
Co-organizer Shane Keyes said transforming the former bookstore site into a community space is an act of reclamation.
“It was sort of a piece of history of the East Side that was ripped away, and in community we're essentially taking it back or giving it back to make sure that it has a use and a purpose I think it was always meant to," he said.
For Griffin, the gathering also reflects Juneteenth’s enduring message of freedom and, today, encouraging Black Americans to use their freedom to celebrate their history, culture and each other.
“A lot of my ancestors freed their minds while still in captivity," she said. "This day is for us to remember that our minds are free as well as our bodies and that we have the free will to do what we want."
The celebration runs from 3-7 p.m. on Sunday, June 21. A suggested $10 will support East Side Stewards and Colored Girls Bike Too.
