Gearing up for Juneteenth at Black Lives Matter Plaza

Washington, DC

It's a day before Juneteenth events at Black Lives Matter Plaza across from the White House in Washington, DC, but Margot Bloch is busy painting in her defend Black Lives Matter sign. "We are getting ready for Juneteenth. These signs will be ready for the hundreds of people who will show up on the BLM Plaza tomorrow." Margot, a student at the University of Maryland studying International Relations, says as a white woman, "she stands with Black people and stands against hate and racism's." Walking by Margot's group is Kanika, who recently celebrated a birthday and was visiting the Black Lives Matter Plaza with her girlfriends from New York, and Baltimore. "We just wanted to come and see this to be apart of it all, and my friend made our Black Lives Matter tee shirts." The Black Lives Matter Plaza was much quieter on this day, but supporters and curious people still came by for photos, to educate kids, to be apart of history, and to sit with their thoughts on what is happening in America. Tamara Pitt's rode the subway from Anacostia she wanted to visit on a day with fewer crowds because of coronavirus. "Covid-19 is still killing Black people and wanted to stay away from the crowds but also honor what is happening at Black Lives Plaza."
If the weather permits, hundreds will attend a gathering to honor Juneteenth on the Black Lives Matter Plaza. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.