A healthy dose of love: Concord Juneteenth promotes wellness among Black community

WHEN LA TANYA JOHNSON was a child, Juneteenth was a great celebration in her home. Her mother would keep her out of school and plan a great party for the neighbors. Flash forward a few decades, and Johnson was throwing a Juneteenth party of her own last month for about 1,000 people in Concord’s Todos Santos Plaza.

The event marked the second year Johnson — and an army of volunteers — have produced the event through the Concord Communities Alliance, a nonprofit city organization. The park was filled with vendors — 98 percent either Black or brown, said co-chair Ady Olvera.