On June 21, 2025, around 300 people gathered at Ivy Station to celebrate Juneteenth, the annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the U.S after the Civil War. The celebration featured 13 booths, ranging from graphic tee and vinyl record vendors to Lei’d Cookies, live jazz bands, and free plates of soul food from Dulan’s.
Council member Fred Puza acknowledged the historical weight of the occasion. “We’ve made undeniable progress since 1865,” he said, “but the struggle continues”—noting recent pushbacks against DEI programs and bans on books by Black authors.
Triston Ezidore, the first Black man elected to the Culver City school board, emphasized the personal significance of the day: “This event is really fun. It’s one of my favorite events every single year.”
The city also honored other Black leaders, including Dr. Daniel Lee, Culver City’s first African American mayor, and Yasmine-Imani McMorrin, its first Black woman mayor.
A walking timeline exhibit was placed throughout the space, tracing the Black American experience from 1619 to the present. One placard, titled “A Sundown Town, 1915–1940,” read: “Culver City was a ‘sundown town’ that excluded Black and other non-White Americans from owning property in the city and even remaining in town after sunset. Those found in town after dark risked harassment and violence from the public and the police.”
One attendee, a teacher who has lived in Los Angeles for 34 years, was visibly moved. “I didn’t know that Culver City was a sundown town,” she said. “And I’ve been coming here for years!”
The event also spotlighted Black entrepreneurship. Nick Hill, who began designing music-themed T-shirts after being laid off in 2008, said his business was born when a friend walked into a record store wearing one of his shirts featuring Thelonious Monk, an African American composer. “The store owner said, ‘I want to sell that shirt.’” Today, Hill sells at events across the city, including the Central Avenue Jazz Festival.
Hill also appreciated the event’s soundtrack. Music floated through the air — songs like “Can We Talk” and “Sweet Thing”, performed live by BriJolie and Friends as well as the Top Shelf Brass Band tunes. “Sometimes it be annoying,” he joked. “I’d be talking and hear a song in the background and say like—I know that song. It’s like a dog and a squirrel.”
Connie Westfield, another vendor, sold vinyl records and graphic tees from her booth, Vintage Dawg. “A neighbor donated 100 records to me ten years ago—she was going to trash them,” Westfield said. “I did research and realized how valuable they were.” Her booth featured classic R&B and jazz artists like Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday. She now sells at major events like Smorgasburg in Downtown LA’s Arts District.
A children’s booth offered books like Opal Lee, the story of the “Grandmother of Juneteenth.” At the booth next door, students from City Honors and Da Vinci Connect gave away T-shirts they designed with Soul Classics, featuring the Black Lives Matter fist, broken shackles, and the words: We Remain Free. Each student also received a free pair of black Adidas Superstars.
By the end of the afternoon, the line for Dulan’s soul food stretched more than 50 people deep.
But beyond the music, giveaways, and plates of mac and cheese, the day stood as a living tribute to generations who resisted, endured, and reimagined freedom. From the ancestors who survived slavery to those who migrated west during the Great Migration—and now to students designing shirts that say We Remain Free—Culver City’s Juneteenth celebration honored both the pain of the past and the possibility of the future.
Clara Carvalho
Photo courtesy Edgar Varela