Ingrid Fuentes, Ophelia Noble and Ubaldo Hernandez answer questions.
Contributed photo
Comunidades commemorated Juneteenth with more than 50 Latino community members at the Riverside Church in Hood River on June 19. The intent was to learn about the importance of the significant day to the African American community and initiation of the new federal holiday.
Ophelia Noble, from the Noble Foundation based in Vancouver, Wash., came to share her story and relationship to Juneteenth with the Gorge community. She remarked on the history of chattel slavery in the United States and the origin of Juneteenth, which honors the day in 1865 that a large portion of enslaved people were finally informed they were free after two years of continued servitude.
Ophelia Noble
It was important to Comunidades, as an organization that works towards social and environmental justice for the Latino community, to honor the day with education and cross-cultural understanding about historical, systemic, and continued oppression in our country.
The event was bilingual and members of Comunidades who attended were very interested in the conversation with engendered empathy and thoughts about how we share similar struggles.
Terrell Sans, Ophelia Noble and Ubaldo Hernandez talk at the June 19 Juneteenth event coordinated by Comunidades.
Contributed photo
The community enjoyed food catered from Lake Taco and at the end of the event, each community member took home a food box with provisions from Mercado Guadalajara and Gorge Farmers Collective, sponsored by Northwest Harvest.
Comunidades, a fiscally sponsored organization under Columbia Riverkeeper, will continue to promote events for the Latino community and will soon be launching a website to share updates, news, and programs.
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