Juneteenth celebration in downtown Lincoln shares importance of representation

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The nonprofit organization Black Is Beautiful Nebraska hosted a Juneteenth celebration on Sunday afternoon.

The free event featured local black artists, business owners, vendors and other black-founded nonprofits.

The event hoped to gain community support and engagement to increase knowledge about the Juneteenth holiday.

Black Is Beautiful uplifts black representation through visual statements and community connection enabling the next generation to succeed.

Zainab Funnah, the president and founder of BIBNE, reinforced these initiatives by explaining her reasoning for creating the organization.

“The reason why I started this nonprofit is because, as a little girl, I felt like I didn’t see much representation,” Funnah said. “I started to put together these types of events where kids can come out, families can come out, and you can see people who look like you doing great things in your community.”

The event was all made possible by the support of sponsors and personal donations.

Many volunteers also came together to focus on sharing the importance of representation in Nebraska and support BIBNE’s goals to provide annual scholarships for the advancement of youth in the community of Lincoln.

To learn more, visit their website.