MACON, Ga. — Residents in Macon's Pleasant Hill neighborhood are celebrating their culture and history this weekend.
Members of the Pleasant Hill Reunion Committee are organizing their 18th annual neighborhood reunion banquet and their 32nd annual Juneteenth Freedom Festival, which is free and open to the public.
While Juneteenth is over two weeks away, the Middle Georgia Juneteenth celebration runs from Friday, June 7 all the way to June 16, according to their website. Their goal is to celebrate family, food and the legacy of the Pleasant Hill neighborhood.
George Fadil Muhammad is a co-organizer and says this is a celebration that will go down in history.
"Pleasant Hill is so rich in history and Juneteenth is all about history," Muhammad said. "Juneteenth is very important and we need to study more and more to understand the history that we were never taught. Much of the history that we were taught and many of our youth today are not being taught that, and we suffer from the lack of knowledge."
The Juneteenth holiday is Wednesday, June 19. Juneteenth was officially made a federal holiday in 2021, but the Pleasant Hill neighborhood was established in the 1870s.
This year's theme is "145 Years and Still Standing" and Muhammad mentioned that the revitalization in Pleasant Hill has been a constant fight. It is something the residents are going to have to get involved in.
"We need to let the whole community know and we need to inspire the community as well as to stand strong and defend our heritage and culture represented," Muhammad said. "It's very very important and it's to honor our ancestors."
On top of live music and other entertainment, the Juneteenth Freedom Festival also includes historical exhibitions, vendors and more. You can find out more on their website here.
Peter Givens was born and raised in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood.
"It's good to make an investment in Pleasant Hill," Givens said.
Givens mentioned the neighborhood was filled with educational opportunities and most of the elementary schools were in Pleasant Hill.
There were 13 churches in the Pleasant Hill neighborhood too, which were large gathering places during the Civil Rights movement.
"Pleasant Hill was like a basin of education," Givens said. "Most of your black professionals lived in Pleasant Hill. You know, the doctors and the lawyers and this and that, so everyone sort of just got along together."
Givens said the community took care of each other then, and he is hoping to see more of that this weekend.
"We really should celebrate our own selves because that's what this reunion is about," Givens said. "We need to remember what was going on and the things that are going on now, so we need to celebrate that we are worth something."
The reunion banquet is this Friday, June 7 at 6 p.m. at the LH Williams Center. Then, they're having a Pleasant Hill Neighborhood Reunion this Saturday, June 8 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The 32nd Annual Juneteenth Freedom Festival is June 15 at 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Tattnall Square Park and the parade is June 16 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.