Brooklyn's Juneteenth Celebration Overflowed With Black Joy & Community

Refinery29

5 hours ago

A rainy Sunday in Brooklyn's Fort Greene Park looked like a scene from an early 2000s Black film. Hundreds danced and sang along to Carl Thomas' 'Summer Rain' under delicate showers, seemingly without a care in the world. It felt like community, freedom and joy.
This was a scene from The Lay Out 's 2025 Juneteenth celebration. Despite the gloomy weather, thousands of attendees gathered to enjoy the sixth annual event, which included Black-owned vendors, tennis clinics, double dutching, giveaways from Fenty Skin and the Brooklyn Nets. There was also a special appearance by the Liberty mascot and turn-up queen herself, Ellie the Elephant.
'I've been coming to The Lay Out since 2020 when there were like 40 or 50 of us,' said Tulani Foy, 37. 'It was during the pandemic, but it was a way for all of us to be among each other, and I think the spirit of that is still the same. It's raining, we're still out here, and I just appreciate that we're all in our most expressive way here. It's a powerful event to come back to.'
Though Juneteenth became an official federal holiday in 2021, it was first celebrated in Galveston, Texas, in 1865—when the last enslaved Black people learned they were free. The news was delivered by Gen. Gordon Granger and his troops, who spread the word until all Black people knew about the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Abraham Lincoln had signed about two and a half years earlier. Today, Juneteenth, celebrated annually on June 19, has grown far beyond Texas, becoming a national symbol of freedom, reflection and celebration.
The Lay Out founder, Emily Anadu, honors the holiday by throwing a free celebration for Black New Yorkers. The event has attracted thousands of attendees since it first began. But Anadu wants you to know: this isn't just a party in the park. Their mission is bigger than that.
'It's about creating an intergenerational space for Black joy,' Anadu said during a Zoom interview. 'We are about centering Black joy at the intersection of Black expression, our right to be, our right to do, to double dutch, braid hair. Like we can be proud about who we are and what we do and the cooperative economics of it.'
Anadu officially founded The Lay Out in June 2020 amid the pandemic and the collective mourning and outrage over the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others. In the midst of protests, citywide curfews and rising anxieties, Anadu — who would often stay behind to clean up after protests — wanted to bring a sense of community back to her neighborhood. Along with co-founders Manushka Magloire, Cyrus Aaron, Briyonah Mcclain and Michael Oloyede, Anadu did just that.
Attended by creatives, engineers, doctors, nurses, businesspeople, children, babies, and everybody in between, their Juneteenth event has become a homecoming and annual sanctuary—a place where people can reconnect and feel at ease. Whether folks choose to be by the DJ booth dancing, on the grass playing games or chilling along the perimeter of the park, just enjoying the day, it's become a space for Black people to just be.
Acclaimed artist Derrick Adams told Anadu the event feels like his 'paintings in motion' because, like his work, The Lay Out reflects 'the Black body at rest and the Black body at joy.'
Six years later, though the mission to cultivate Black joy is still the same, there's another urgent priority for Anadu: to sustain.
'Now my mission is about holding on to what it is, as much is about what happens in the moment,' Anadu said. 'I spend a lot of time now just trying to hold on and the delicate balance of welcoming new people in, but also letting people understand, like, we kind of got a thing going here.'
A very real anxiety exists for Black New Yorkers right now as community staples disappeared left and right in recent years, including Bed-Vyne Brew, Lovers Rock and Ode to Babel. Gentrification and rising property costs have made it hard for businesses that center on Black communities to survive. Not to mention, beyond economics, increasing restrictions on public social gatherings, overbearing police presence at community events and social media virality culture have made it harder for free, Black-run events to gain traction in Brooklyn.
Anadu felt those anxieties and pressures in the days leading up to Sunday. She notes that, contrary to what people may see with the brand collaborations and production, she doesn't make much off of the events. The former marketing director says it takes tens of thousands of dollars to pull off an event like this, and much of the budget goes towards cleanup.
'Coming out of the pandemic, when a lot of things died, to be here, celebrating this for the sixth time, it takes a lot,' she said. 'It takes honoring the community and making sure that The Lay Out is about our right to gather and to take up space. One woman described in one of our recap videos black people doing black things without judgment, without our bodies being policed, without any of that. And that hasn't happened by accident.'
The Lay Out is a reminder that building community doesn't just happen. It takes care, consistency and intention. It takes people willing to listen, give back, and take care of each other, including the spaces we occupy. Because of the work organizers have put in, The Lay Out has been able to host programming that feeds those in need, brings visibility to Black-owned businesses, and makes Black presence visible in spaces where we're often left out. They've even sparked a few love stories and helped two couples get engaged.
Anadu said she has no intention of stopping anytime soon.
'I want people to feel entitled to joy,' she declared.'It is our inalienable right to happiness with the pursuit of happiness, the pursuit of joy. And I truly believe that for us. I wouldn't put what I put into it — time, space, emotional, physical — if I didn't truly believe in our right to the pursuit of joy. I just want all of us to be supportive of that.'