Olympia pulls funding for Juneteenth celebration, community leaders say
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Olympia withdrew sponsorship for this year’s Juneteenth celebration.
- Mayor Dontae Payne said the city will observe Juneteenth with a proclamation.
- Organizers and community leaders publicly raised concerns about timing and accountability.
The city of Olympia has pulled out from its sponsorship of this year’s Juneteenth celebration with no clear answer as to why, leaders of the city’s Black cultural centers said during a City Council meeting on May 5.
Mayor Dontae Payne said during the meeting that despite the revocation of sponsorship, the city will still observe Juneteenth as a holiday through a proclamation and a flag raising over City Hall. He said the city is continuing to work with other partners on how to celebrate and observe the holiday.
It was not clear when city leaders made the decision to no longer sponsor and participate in the event. The Olympian was not immediately able to reach Payne or Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray regarding when the decision was made, why, or how much money the city would have contributed to the event.
In an email to The Olympian on May 7, Ray said the city has elected to partner with a new organization for Juneteenth this year.
“The city is grateful for the strong partnership it has had with Media Island International for the last five years,” she said. “After an internal evaluation of that partnership, city leaders decided the timing was right to explore opportunities to develop partnerships with different organizations as part of an ongoing effort to bring new voices and experiences to our cultural events.”
Ray said that though the city won’t be partnering with Media Island International for its Juneteenth event, it will still be providing space at Rebecca Howard Park at no cost.
She said the city is in discussions with two other organizations to potentially partner with for Juneteenth this year, one of them being the ASHHO Cultural Community Center in Tumwater.
“We are continually looking for ways to thoughtfully expand our cultural events and enhance access and experiences not only for communities in Olympia but also at a regional level with our surrounding cities and Thurston County,” Ray said.
Shawna Hawk, a resident and founder of the Women of Color in Leadership Movement and director of Media Island International, has organized Juneteenth celebrations at Rebecca Howard Park since 2020. She said during the meeting that the city seems to have an issue with “pitting the Black community against each other.”
Hawk referenced a City Council meeting on Feb. 3 when the council read a proclamation recognizing Black History Month. According to previous reporting from The Olympian, the meeting went into a lengthy recess after remarks from Hawk Foundation director Javoen Byrd following the reading of the proclamation.
Byrd was invited to the podium to speak on behalf of the Hawk Foundation for Research and Education in African Culture. At one point, he called out a council member for allegedly using the term “victim Olympics” in regard to the issues the Black community faces in America.
In an interview with The Olympian, Byrd said he was referencing a conversation with Mayor Pro Tem Yến Huỳnh from 2024 regarding a sister city partnership in Nigeria. Byrd said he tried to compare the importance of the partnership to other cultural exchanges that happen in Olympia, and Huỳnh allegedly said “We’re not doing the ‘victim Olympics’ right now.”
Byrd and Mayor Dontae Payne, who is Black, then argued back and forth for some time at the Feb. 3 meeting, according to previous reporting. Byrd said the council chambers need to “give a clap for white supremacy.” Payne said the argument was not representative of what Black History Month is about, and that calling a council member racist in public is disrespectful.
When asked for more context and perspective on the conversation with Byrd, Huỳnh told The Olympian on Feb. 4 that what happened during the council meeting was unfortunate, and that she didn’t “want to take away further from what was supposed to be a celebration of Black History Month.”
Hawk said during the May 5 meeting that Byrd and others have since tried to hold city leadership accountable for not allowing Byrd to finish his remarks at the February meeting. She said the city continues to work with other communities and cultural groups, but that they don’t seem interested in working with the Black community.
“We’re going to find a way to do it anyway,” she said about the Juneteenth event. “We’re going to make it happen.”
Byrd said during the May 5 meeting that he was formally placing on record “concerns regarding a First Amendment violation and subsequent actions that raise concerns about potential retaliation.”
According to previous reporting from The Olympian, Payne said Byrd’s actions had jeopardized the partnership between the city and the Hawk Foundation. The city had planned a Black History Month celebration for Feb. 20 that was in partnership with the foundation. It went on as planned, despite Payne saying Feb. 4 that things could change.
Byrd said at the May 5 meeting that his speech during the Black History Month proclamation was interrupted and mischaracterized, and that the city hasn’t remedied the situation.
“The Juneteenth Celebration of Rebecca Howard Park is not simply an event,” he said. “It is rooted in a site intentionally developed to honor American freedmen and community healing.”
He said Olympia is removing localized support for the federally-recognized holiday in a city that has a documented history of redlining and excluding Black residents.
Byrd said at the same time, the city has continued partnerships for other cultural celebrations. He said that raises a “clear question of consistency.”
“Representation does not replace accountability,” he said. “The presence of a Black official does not justify ignoring grievances of American freedmen community members, nor does it relieve the city of the responsibility to uphold constitutional protections and respond appropriately when concerns are raised.”
Byrd said he’s asking for a formal review of the February meeting as well as transparency in the decision-making process for backing out of the Juneteenth celebration. He said the matter was being documented and shared with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office for review.
“Public trust requires accountability and consistency,” he said.
Resident Kael Moffat said during public comment that he wanted to know why the decision to back out was made, and why so late in the planning cycle.
“My understanding is that Shawna Hawk, of the Women of Color in Leadership Movement, who has planned the event since 2020, only learned about this in mid-April, weeks before the event,” he said. “... this is an inexcusable nightmare.”
He said Hawk will need to finalize community partnerships and support, as well as programming contracts and arrangements. On top of that, she will need to fundraise without the financial support from the city.
“How much of a burden would it have been to make logistical arrangements, advertise and fundraise in eight weeks?” he said. “There is something deeply disturbing about the timing.”
Moffat said the withdrawal of sponsorship seems like not only an affront to the Black community, but to other communities of color and marginalized people.
“If this celebration can be derailed almost at the last minute, then what other efforts are at risk?” he said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published May 6, 2026 at 3:40 PM.
.jpg)