Every year, the City of Binghamton raises the Juneteenth flag outside City Hall. The flag-raising is accompanied by a ceremony to recognize the anniversary of the day news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached slaves in Texas. However, this year, the ceremony was moved inside and the flag was already raised sometime before the ceremony began. 

The city says they notified event organizers of the change in venue the night before.

Inside, city and state officials, as well as representatives from the Juneteenth Committee and NAACP, gave speeches, while outside, a growing group of community members gathered by the flag poles. 

Community members say they wanted to attend the ceremony and listen to the speakers, but were turned away. Activist organization PLOT says they had a list of demands they wanted to read to Mayor Rich David, to enact change in the city, but the mayor did not come outside to hear them. 

A spokesperson for the Mayor's Office says they were told PLOT was planning a rally at the same time and place as the ceremony and they decided to move the event inside to "avoid a confrontation." The Mayor's Office says they wanted to keep the focus on Juneteenth.

Salka Valerio a leader of PLOT, says the ceremony was treated like a photo-op and that the day was stolen from the community. 

"We should have been allowed to be involved to put this flag up," says Valerio, "This is not fair to our community that this is the way we had to celebrate Juneteenth. All of the 'thank you' all of the 'we're doing all of this work in the community for the black people, bulls***. You didn't even allow us to come and celebrate our day with our whole community."

The group outside City Hall continued to grow as the community chose to recognize Juneteenth in their own way. Individuals took turns stepping up to a microphone, sharing their experiences with race issues still taking place 155 years after the emancipation Juneteenth celebrates.

The speeches and conversations continued for over an hour.

 

The group, voicing anger at the Juneteenth flag flying at half-mast with the other flags, raised it all the way up themselves. 

"For the mayor to think that it's O.K. to pull a political stunt like he did last night, raising this flag that means so much to us in the middle of the night instead of doing it in public like they've done for years, it's inexcusable and it's cowardly," says Shanel Boyce, a leader with PLOT.

Unable to read their demands for the mayor, PLOT read them out loud to the group outside City Hall.

They include:

  • Safe, affordable housing for everyone. 
  • Access to fresh, healthy food in grocery stores in all communities.
  • Getting treatment and help for individuals with a mental illness, instead of incarceration.
  • More minority representation in education, both in the curriculum and the teaching staff and administration.
  • Ending racial, economic, and mental health injustices within the criminal justice system.

 

The Mayor's Office said they did not want to comment further on the demands or the gathering outside City Hall, but rather keep the focus on what was said earlier at the ceremony itself. 

In his statements at the official ceremony, Mayor David did acknowledge that more work needs to be done in the Binghamton community to reach racial equality. 

"In Binghamton, we're proud of some of the progress we've made, while also acknowledging there's much more work that needs to be done," says David. 

During her remarks, City Councilwoman Angela Riley expressed her disappointment that the ceremony was not held outside, saying "I wish we could be outside, where everyone could partake in this celebration." 

Broome-Tioga NAACP President Micah Barreiro used his speech to inspire change. Telling activists to keep going and encouraging everyone to register and vote. 

"As we celebrate the day we were told that slavery ended, I say to the black community stay strong, stay united, stay informed, stay focused, stay vocal, keep marching," says Barreiro, "But most of all, vote!"

A mom who says she was able to go inside and listen to the speeches, while her kids had to wait outside, took the mic outside City Hall to issue an open invitation to the speakers to come to Columbus Park Saturday and give those speeches again. She says she wanted her daughter and other kids in the community to be able to hear them.