Third annual Juneteenth Freedom Walk draws crowd in Post Falls

Dozens of people filled the sidewalk outside Post Falls City Hall on Friday, singing, reading poetry and offering short remarks before setting off on the third annual Juneteenth Freedom Walk. The march, organized by Idaho for All, moved from 1717 E. Polston Ave. to Q’emiln Park Trailhead Center, where the day continued with the Human Rights Education Institute’s Juneteenth Community Conversation.

The gathering carried particular weight in Post Falls because it came just months after the City Council voted 4-2 on Feb. 18, 2026, to remove Juneteenth from the city’s holiday list and restore Columbus Day. Mayor Randy Westlund said he believed Columbus Day was a better holiday honoring “American heritage,” a decision that drew frustration from organizers and made the walk itself a visible statement of civic presence.

At the front of City Hall, Merideth Gaftney told the crowd that Juneteenth is about recognizing others and treating every person with dignity and respect, a message she said is badly needed in society right now. Rebecca Harlen Patano said history matters and warned against wiping truth away, saying truth is where understanding starts. Their remarks framed the walk as more than a commemoration, but as a public act of belonging in a city where the holiday’s place in official life had just been debated.

The route ended at Q’emiln Park, a 78.5-acre city park south of the Spokane River with a swimming beach, boat launch, picnic shelters, volleyball courts and access to the Post Falls Community Forest. Organizers said the move from Coeur d’Alene was driven by crowd-management concerns tied to the packed June calendar there, including Ironman, Father’s Day and Car d’Lane, not by any threat from the public. In that sense, the switch reflected a practical adjustment to North Idaho’s summer rhythm, not a retreat from the event’s message.

Along the walk, participants carried signs and repeated chants including “We are free when all are free” and “Idaho is for all.” Priest David Gortner of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Coeur d’Alene led songs such as “Glory, Glory, Hallelujah” and “This Little Light of Mine,” helping turn the march into a moving public procession rather than a static program.

The day’s themes were liberation, education, resilience, community progress and bringing balance to America’s celebration of freedom. In a region where Coeur d’Alene officially proclaimed June 19, 2025, as Juneteenth Day and heard a presentation from HREI, while Post Falls moved in the opposite direction this year, the Freedom Walk showed how local traditions are still being built, one gathering at a time.