By Eloge Willy Kaneza
Community leaders, residents, artists, and advocates gathered June 20 at the Benjamin Mays Center at Bates College to celebrate Juneteenth, honoring the generations whose sacrifices expanded freedom while reflecting on the work that remains ahead.
Organized by the Community Organizing Alliance (COA), the annual celebration brought together people from diverse backgrounds under this year’s theme, “We Are the Wildest Dreams.” The theme was a reflection on the sacrifices of previous generations, the realities of the present, and the future communities continue to build together.
The Benjamin Mays Center is named after Benjamin Elijah Mays, one of the most influential Black educators and civil rights leaders in American history. A 1920 graduate of Bates College, Mays later became president of Morehouse College and mentor to generations of civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who often described him as an intellectual and spiritual guide. Mays’ lifelong commitment to education, equality, and human dignity made the center a fitting venue for a celebration dedicated to freedom and justice.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. The day became a federal holiday in 2021 and is now celebrated nationwide as both a commemoration of emancipation and a reminder of the continuing pursuit of racial justice.
Opening the evening was Ninette Irabaruta, vice president and managing director at Androscoggin Bank and a longtime advocate for immigrant and refugee communities in Maine.
Born and raised in Burundi, Irabaruta reflected on her journey to the United States and the responsibility each generation carries toward those who come after them. “I don’t think many of us who came here years ago would be where we are today if Maine wasn’t loving, if Maine weren’t welcoming,” she told the audience.
For Irabaruta, the theme of the evening carried a profound meaning.
“We are living in the dreams of those who came before us,” she said. “If we are living in someone else’s dreams, then we also have a responsibility to become good ancestors ourselves.”
Her remarks drew sustained applause as she urged attendees to invest in young people, strengthen communities, and leave future generations with more opportunities and hope than they inherited.
“That to me is the spirit of Juneteenth,” she said. “A celebration of freedom, a celebration of resilience, and a reminder that we are all called to help build a future worthy of the dreams that brought us all here.”
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The celebration continued with an intergenerational panel discussion exploring how Maine has changed over the decades and what still needs to be done to achieve true equity, opportunity, and belonging.
Among the panelists was Carl Toney, a retired physician assistant, public health official, and founding director of the Center for Transcultural Health at the University of New England.
Toney first arrived in Maine in 1979 to complete his medical training at Maine Medical Center.
Reflecting on his early years in the state, Toney described a Maine that looked dramatically different from the diverse communities seen today.
“When I arrived here in 1979, there were essentially three languages spoken in the Portland schools: English, French, and Vietnamese,” he said. “Today there are close to 60.”
Toney shared personal stories about racial barriers he encountered as a Black man married to a white woman in the late 1970s. He recounted the difficulty he and his wife faced obtaining a marriage license in North Carolina and finding someone willing to perform their wedding ceremony.
He also remembered the kindness of an elderly French Canadian widow in Scarborough who rented them an apartment despite concerns about how neighbors might react to having a Black tenant in the neighborhood. The story drew laughter from the audience when Toney recalled the woman promising that if anyone objected, she would simply tell them he was her cousin.
For Toney, Juneteenth represents the power of coalition building and collective action. He highlighted efforts that helped Maine establish structures aimed at addressing minority health disparities and improving culturally responsive health care across the state.
“It is about coming together, working together and never saying it can’t be done,” he said.
Joining him on the panel was Lauress Wilkins Lawrence, a respected philanthropic leader and former program officer at the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, whose work has focused on community empowerment, racial equity, and social justice.
Lawrence reflected on years spent supporting grassroots organizations throughout Maine, including in Lewiston and Auburn.
She argued that philanthropy should focus less on wealthy donors deciding priorities and more on empowering communities to shape their own futures.
“Philanthropy should not be about rich people deciding what they want to do with their money,” she said. “It should be about the redistribution of resources so communities can live the lives they need to live.”
Lawrence challenged younger generations to view themselves as future ancestors whose actions today will influence the opportunities available tomorrow. “Our work is never all done,” she said. “We are always building those dreams for the next generation.”
The discussion later expanded to include Nyamuon Machar, known affectionately as “Moon,” a community leader and advocate working at the intersection of identity, storytelling, and immigrant youth empowerment in Maine. Machar appeared alongside community leader Cuba Jackson, who shared perspectives on identity, belonging, and the future of social justice efforts in Maine and beyond.
Beyond the speeches and panel discussions, music became one of the evening’s most powerful expressions of unity.
Among those who traveled to Lewiston for the celebration was the Kouchera live band. When lead vocalist Jennifer Rachele stepped forward and began singing songs of freedom, resilience, and hope, the audience erupted in applause. Some stood, others danced, and many joined in singing along, transforming the gathering into a joyful celebration of culture and community.
The Lewiston event was one of several Juneteenth commemorations held across Maine between June 19 and June 20. Communities in Biddeford, Brewer, Bangor, Freeport, and Westbrook also hosted celebrations, reflecting the growing recognition of Juneteenth and the state’s increasing cultural diversity.
For many in attendance, the evening served as both a celebration and a call to action. Again and again, speakers returned to the same message: the freedoms won by previous generations cannot be taken for granted. They must be protected, expanded, and passed on to future generations.
As the gathering came to a close, Irabaruta’s words continued to resonate throughout the room.
If today’s communities are living in the dreams of those who came before them, she reminded the audience, then they also bear the responsibility of becoming the ancestors future generations will remember.
