With fireworks canceled, groups gather in Sugar House Park for Freedom Fest celebration of Black excellence https://ift.tt/2NYsJVr

Groups gathered in Sugar House Park Saturday for Freedom Fest, a celebration of Black excellence and a call to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

People scattered around a stage in the Salt Lake City park listened to speakers and performers. The event also was designed as a “challenge to a national holiday that commemorates the independence of this country’s people, who then turned around and took away the freedom and independence of others,” said Insurgence USA, one of the sponsors, in a statement on Facebook.

(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) People celebrate the Freedom Festival at Sugar House Park on Saturday, July 4, 2020. The festival is a celebration of Black excellence and a challenge to the national holiday. (Francisco Kjolseth/)

Organizers also collected donations for Utah charities and organizations. Abolish ICE, Salt Lake Equal Rights Movement, Northern Utah Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter Utah Chapter, Salt Lake City Riders and Dance With Sobriety were among the event sponsors.

from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/3gp4KLh
July 05, 2020 at 08:33AM