Olympia leaders, BUILD mark Juneteenth with flag-raising and gubernatorial proclamation

Olympia — Officials and community members gathered at a Juneteenth flag-raising on June 19, 2026, to honor the history of emancipation and local Black leaders, hear a gubernatorial proclamation and raise the Juneteenth flag.

The event opened with Andre Simpson, lead of the history and activities subcommittee for BUILD (Blacks United Leadership and Diversity), who welcomed attendees and introduced the program. "It's an important event," Simpson said as he invited speakers and organizers to the podium.

Devon Brim, chair of BUILD, framed the ceremony as both commemoration and a call to continued work: "Juneteenth reminds us that freedom must be remembered, protected, and carried forward," Brim said, urging attendees to "build intentionally in a stronger future for those that's coming behind us." He invited Marcus Glasser, BUILD’s executive sponsor and director of the Washington State Department of Licensing, to read the governor's proclamation.

Glasser read the text of Gov. Bob Ferguson’s proclamation, recounting the Emancipation Proclamation issued Jan. 1, 1863, and noting that federal troops entered Texas on June 19, 1865. "And now, therefore, I, Bob Ferguson, governor of the state of Washington, do hereby proclaim 06/19/2026 as Juneteenth in Washington," Glasser read.

Mayor Dante Payne highlighted a local episode of that longer history, telling the crowd about Charles Mitchell, a 13-year-old enslaved boy in Olympia who "escaped to his freedom to Victoria, British Columbia via the Puget Sound Underground Railroad." Payne connected that local story to broader efforts, saying the state study of reparations named for Charles Mitchell and George Washington Bush recalls the need to "correct what the harm has been done to Black Americans in communities across this nation, including our very own Olympia."

Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck urged both celebration and continued work toward equality. Quoting the Declaration of Independence, he said its language was aspirational and reflected unfinished work: "They didn't really mean it. They didn't fully mean it. They meant it aspirationally, and it has taken us 250 years to make significant progress on that aspirational vision."

Organizers closed the program with logistical instructions for photographs and the flag-raising itself. Brim thanked partners and invited the public to an upcoming BUILD event. Attendees then moved to the flagpole for the formal raising and group photos.

The gathering included brief technical checks and a short transition to additional speakers; the transcript records the start of further remarks by Jared Wood as the session moved toward the flag-raising.