Devon Henry, owner of the Newport News-based construction firm Team Henry Enterprises LLC, was the keynote speaker at this year’s local Juneteenth observance, “A Celebration of Freedom,” held under clear, hot skies but freshened by a brisk breeze off the York River, at historic Holly Knoll in Gloucester.
Last Thursday’s event was sponsored by the Juneteenth Committee, the Gloucester and Mathews branches of the NAACP, and The Gloucester Institute.
Known for his role in the removal of the Confederate statues from public lands in downtown Richmond, Henry brought a message of fierce determination to the crowd gathered under the huge live oak on the Holly Knoll lawn, where it is said that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a portion of his “I Have a Dream” speech.
“What does Juneteenth demand of us?” said Henry. “No matter what’s happening in Washington, D.C., we must move ahead; we can’t wait for permission. We must write it, build it, live it, tell it. We’ve weathered worse and nev...