Elkhart Juneteenth cookout celebrates diversity with art
ELKHART, Ind. -- Juneteeth celebrations took place over in Elkhart County Friday.
The Boling Vision Center hosting a community cookout complete with a special art project to celebrate diversity.
Friday marking the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth; a holiday commemorating the end of slavery.
The message at the celebration that diversity is beautiful was illustrated with a paint brush.
“So today what we’ve decided to do is show my mom’s color project and show that we’re all made of the same three colors,” Babette Boling explained.
“The Color Project” is something Boling’s mother came up with to prove that we are more alike than different using just three colors red yellow and blue.
“Her concept was to show that with the same three colors, make brown. We’re all different shades of brown, some with more melanin and some with less. So how we do that artistically is we take the three primary colors, mix it, and if you’re lighter-skinned we add more water. If you’re darker-skinned we don’t add as much,” Boling said.
Community members soaking that message in at the event and pushing for more racial equality moving forward.
“We in Elkhart can come together to celebrate the positive things in America,” Arvis Dawson said, an Elkhart city councilman. “I’m hoping we can celebrate this day nationally, just like the fourth of July, Independence Day.”