Juneteenth: Federal Way nonprofits team up with library | PHOTOS

Federal Way nonprofits Phenomenal She and Game of Life held their fifth annual Juneteenth celebration this year, partnering with the King County Library System (KCLS) for the first time.

Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States and is a federally recognized holiday. The spirit of this event is to learn about, recognize and celebrate the rich history of African Americans and to celebrate cultures across the African diaspora.

In 2024, the Federal Way Juneteenth event was held at Town Square Park, and KCLS held a separate Juneteenth event at a library location in Renton. This year the celebrations came together at the Federal Way Library, 34200 1st Way S.

The event included a Community Resource Fair inside the library and a market of local vendors out in the parking lot.

A Community Leader Forum moderated by TraeAnna Holiday of Converge Media brought together local leaders. These included State Rep. Debra Entenman, Shaude’ Moore, Andrea Caupain and Pastor Joseph Bowman IV.

Dr. Ayanna Gore leads a Flex and Flow workshop highlighting the importance of self care at the Juneteenth event in this activity offered by the Trap Lab in Federal Way. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror.

After the forum, guests had the opportunity to get free professional portraits and/or attend a basketball skills and drills workshop.

The Juneteenth event will have a long lasting mark on the library after a group mural was completed that will be displayed in the library. The community mural experience was led by Jeneva Burton of the JBM collective along with several other artists. These included Rodney King, Deycha Nhtae and Chariss Rhea.

The vibrant painting came alive with the theme of “Family Reunion,” and also brought an opportunity for a community conversation about how to make the library more accessible.

Tucked behind the tables of the resource fair, the afternoon brought the opportunity to attend a class titled “Flex and Flow: A Juneteenth Mind-Body Experience.” This activity was led by Dr. Ayanna Gore and hosted by the Trap Lab in Federal Way. Participants spent a half hour doing core exercises then enjoyed a mindfulness activity, all infused with a message that self care is important.

Icea Pettigrew said that a highlight of the Juneteenth celebration was “looking at small business owners – a lot of them are new.”

Deycha Nhtae works on the community mural at Saturday’s Juneteenth event. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror.

Seeing how the community is growing, Pettigrew said she is happy the event can be a chance to give them a platform.

This is the first year that Phenomenal She and Game of Life Mentoring have partnered with the King County Library System to host the event. Pettigrew is a board member at Phenomenal She and also a co-founder of the Trap Lab.

That in itself is impactful, Pettigrew said.

“Just to see how people have people come up and said ‘I didn’t know the library is here,’” Pettigrew said, explaining that building that awareness that the library is here and “has so many resources” is a great benefit of this year’s version of the event.

Back at the community mural, Jeneva Burton led a conversation about library access. The dialogue began with the question: How does it feel to walk into the library and see books that reflect your community, culture and identity?

Artist Nchea said that “it helps me feel more affirmed and more seen, because I don’t have to dig to the bottom of a stack or go to one specific corner to find books, especially like youth books and children books with pictures of people that look like me. It was nice to be greeted with that coming into the library for myself personally and I know where to start, versus having to find where I am.”

Artist Rodney King grew up in Federal Way and reflected on his experiences growing up: “Going to Barnes and Nobles back in the day, you got a small section of books for African Americans and you always had to be guided to it. So for you to actually be able to come to a library and find that stuff without navigating through like a maze could definitely be a change of pace.”

For those who attended the Juneteenth event, that representation and community spirit filled several rooms and spilled out into the parking lot.

Jayna Smith, social impact coordinator at KCLS said of the event that “what we wanted it to feel like was community…and the reminder of the family reunion and what Juneteenth is, celebrating what that means for Black folks to be able to center the Black community in this work, and then also to be able to bring other folks in and share culture and dance and sing, and that’s just been really beautiful.”

Visitors to the library this month can also enjoy learning about and celebrating history through the lens of Black excellence through a current Black Music History display including videos, books and more and will also be able to enjoy the community mural.

Saudia Abdullah, Carlecia Bell and Cynthia Ricks-Maccotan at the Juneteenth event at the King County Library in Federal Way. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror

Local artists and community members come together to create a community mural at the Juneteenth event on June 14. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror.

The Juneteenth event took place both inside and outside at the Federal Way Library on 1st Avenue S. Vendors filled the parking lot as part of the festivities. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror.

The theme of the community mural was “family reunion” and the painting party included this moment of joy between Jeneva and her mom. Photo by Keelin Everly-Lang / the Mirror.

Photo by Bruce Honda.

Carlecia and Winston Bell are community leaders who run Phenomenal She and Game of Life Mentoring, respectively. Their organizations were the hosts of this year’s Juneteenth event at the King County public library in Federal Way. Photo by Bruce Honda.