Overview: The Inland Empire Black Worker Center (IEBWC) held a “Juneteenth Season” fundraiser, Freedom in Motion: Healing Through Footwork, to support their mission to advance economic mobility, dignity, and justice for Black workers. The event featured music, line dancing, food, drinks, and wellness vendors, and highlighted vendors including Calloway Holistics, Wendy’s Life Wellness, A Hint of Moss, and Big D’s Tacos. The event was a sacred community gathering that connected people and nourished their mind, body, and spirit.
Alyssah Hall
The Inland Empire Black Worker Center (IEBWC) held Freedom in Motion: Healing Through Footwork, a “Juneteenth Season” fundraiser at the Epic Events Center in Rancho Cucamonga on June 13.
The event united the community with music, line dancing, food, drinks and wellness vendors at $25 a ticket. The fundraiser directly supports the IEBWC’s mission to advance economic mobility, dignity and justice for Black workers through policy advocacy, workforce development, and worker organizing.
“Today we want to celebrate Juneteenth, Black liberation. The Black labor that built this land is often unheard, it goes unnoticed. So, we want to take a moment to remember to give back to not only the workers’ center and all the work we do, so it is a fundraiser as well; but also to the community, bring people together, have a little bit of fun, a little bit of laughter,” said Blue Robinson, Community Engagement Specialist and Policy Lead for IEBWC.
About 40 people turned out for the event. It was intended to be a sacred community gathering that connected people and nourished their mind, body and spirit. The occassion highlighted vendors including Calloway Holistics, Wendy’s Life Wellness, A Hint of Moss, and Big D’s Tacos. There was an informational presentation to open the event and the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, was sung by Crystal Edwards and Amanda Chirongoma.
“They were looking for singers, and luckily, me and my friend Amanda, have been singing back up with people and artists in the community, so we kind of already formed our own little thing, and this gave us another opportunity to sing for a Black event, which I’m very happy about. We sang the Black National Anthem, and everyone sang along with us. It was really nice and then the event itself was just a wonderful addition,” Edwards shared.
Tina Starks was invited to the event and invited her friend, Lori Keith, founder of nonprofit SistahsnBiz.The two are both fans of line dancing and Starks said that caught her attention.
“I love the opportunity to move my body, but also move my body with a purpose. I learned a lot about what’s happening in the Inland Empire, and I think that’s amazing. It makes me want to get more involved in the community,” Starks stated.
Keith takes line dancing regularly in her community because she loves to workout and exercise and when she found out about the IEBWC, she was impressed and got information on how to become a member. Keith is a humanitarian and started a new nonprofit, SistahsnBiz, that holds fundraisers through arts and entertainment such as fashion shows and dances that include all ages.
Another set of event goers at the Juneteenth fundraiser included Natasha Gatlin and Tantaniea Bell who found out about the event from Instagram and EventBrite. The two shared affirmations of what brought them to the event saying, “Because Black is beautiful, Black is amazing, Black is power.” They shared it was a great experience to connect with others and celebrate the culture.