PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland nonprofit Word is Bond will commemorate Juneteenth with walking tours of neighborhoods. Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas learned out they had been freed — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
One youth ambassador for World is Bond fondly remembers growing up in Portland's King neighborhood.
"For my tour, I just want to tell the story of my childhood, the childhood of my peers, the history of the community," said Mycah Alemseghed.
And for another ambassador, he recalled walking through the Woodlawn neighborhood.
"It's a tour around my neighborhood, Woodlawn neighborhood, and just the neighborhood I grew around. I take you on the path and the stuff I had seen, especially the gentrification," said Jahad Hudson."
The pair said they have seen the King and Woodlawn neighborhoods change.
"It has shifted over the years, whether for some people that's good or that's bad. I have seen just in my lifetime the demographic in my neighborhood change," said Alemseghed said.
"My grandma, she was the first one that came here. She came in the 40s, late 40s, she came during Vanport times. She was displaced two or three times and then moved in the house I'm in right now," Hudson said.
That's why they're leading walking tours of the neighborhoods. They want to make sure they honor the Juneteenth holiday and share the history of the area with others.
"Juneteenth is a really important, almost a sacred day I would say for African-Americans in this country and the liberation slavery that really hasn't truly been recognized," said Lakayana Drury.
The walking tours are part of the nonprofit's In My Shoes storytelling series and include original poetry and music. It's told by the perspective of the Black youth. They want everyone to remember the past and look forward to the future.
"Walking tours are important because they are a platform to amplify Black stories and here in Portland, a city that's not traditionally uplifted or heard Black stories," Drury said.
The first tour in the Woodlawn neighborhood starts at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19. The second tour in the King neighborhood starts at 12:15 p.m. Anyone interested can register on the Word Is Bond website.