Hunter
06/21/20
A Juneteenth celebration in downtown Iowa City attracted hundreds Saturday at the Pentacrest.
Organized by the Iowa Freedom Riders, the Black Voices Project and the Center for Worker Justice, the event featured speakers including attorneys for 20-year-old Mazin Mohamedali, one of the Iowa Freedom Riders leaders who was arrested on June 7th after allegedly tearing down $5000 in fencing around the Old Capital Museum.
The attorneys, Rockne Cole and Aaron Page, worked with Johnson County prosecutors to get five of the six charges pending against Mohamedali dropped.
The Iowa City Press Citizen reports Cole told the crowd that they’ve achieved more for racial justice in two weeks than the City of Iowa City has achieved in the last 150 years.
Other speakers highlighted the importance of remembering the injustices black women have faced, saying that an estimated 64,000 black women and girls go missing annually.
After a march around College Green Park, the celebration returned to the Pentacrest with music, food and performances. No incidents were reported.