CITY COUNCIL – Juneteenth at Bruce’s Beach nixed this year
by Mark McDermott The Manhattan Beach City Council Tuesday night considered a City-sponsored Juneteenth celebration at Bruce’s Beach Park this year but instead opted to wait a year in hopes of organizing a larger, more citywide event. Councilperson Steve Napolitano said he favored a Juneteenth celebration perhaps beginning with speakers at Bruce’s Beach Park and then branching out to a larger celebration of Black history at other City parks. But the two-month timeframe at present, he said, made organizing an event with any such scope impossible. “I know that sounds like a punt, and I suppose it is because I would like to refer this back to the Parks and Recreation Commission to look at it and to see what would be appropriate and how we can engage people,” Napolitano said. “Maybe it’s performers, maybe it’s a play, maybe it’s music, maybe it’s spoken word. At that time, next year, when we have enough planning for this, I think a perfect place to kick it off is a ceremony at Bruce’s Beach Park.” Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates the day — June 19, 1865 — on which the last enslaved people in the United States, in Galveston, Texas, finally learned they were free…
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