250 years of Black excellence celebrated at Manoa Valley Juneteenth cookout

News admin June 21, 2026 0 Comments

250 years of Black excellence celebrated at Manoa Valley Juneteenth cookout

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Manoa Valley Theatre concluded its week-long inaugural Juneteenth festival Saturday.

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, commemorates the day in 1865 when the last of the country’s enslaved people found out they were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was passed.

It serves as a reminder for some to celebrate freedom and Black joy.

Cultural events began Monday, ranging from musical performances to guest panelists.

The festival aimed to celebrate 250 years of Black excellence while highlighting African American contributions and influence in Hawaii.

“One thing I learned about during this whole thing was how influential black people were to the alii of Hawaii, how black people helped to shape Hawaii,” said festival creator Shervelle Hannah. “Juneteenth doesn’t mean it’s just for us; it’s for all of us.”

Hannah added that there is limited access to the Black theater that “is available to all of us.”

“Here in Hawaii, I feel like it’s my kuleana to promote that, to make space, to make way for black theater,” she said.

Hannah said that in a recent event, six of her director friends spoke about what it means to be Black in Hawaii, doing theater and the challenges African Americans face, “whose stories aren’t told as much.”

“We get to express that and say, hey, we want a stage too, and we deserve to have our stories told too, and we deserve to be a part of the collective story here in Hawaii,” she said. “Just because we’re Black doesn’t mean that we didn’t have an important part to play in Hawaii and the shaping of Hawaii.”

A cookout was held Saturday to close out the six-day festival, hosting local food vendors, African-inspired craft booths, line dancing, and live reggae music.

“For me, this is a celebration of freedom and black joy and black excellence because we deserve a seat at the table too, you know. We deserve to be celebrated too,” Hannah said.

Saturday concluded with a show featuring guest performances by West African drum and dance group Sewa Fare, as well as several other festival organizers.