From afar, one could imagine it's a normal street festival.

But this is Syracuse's celebration of Juneteenth -- the day, 153 years ago, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that Union soldiers arrived to Texas with a message.

"They were the last group to hear that 'you are free.' It was in the last month of June, so Juneteenth celebrates the pronouncement and declaration of the last group of slaves to hear that they are free," said Victory Temple Syracuse Bishop and Senior Pastor H. Bernard Alex. 

For many, Juneteenth provides a chance to reflect and even understand the current climate. 

"We have allowed some hateful words and hatemongering and people that are just pulling and dividing us and to just have a platform and an audience, and we now need to say, the declaration and the pronouncement has been given. We -- all people in the United States -- are free," said Alex.

"Juneteenth is here for the children. Not for us to make money. So we have lost the focus," said The Soulfood Extension Owner Mercedes M. Jones.

And for others, it represents what else can be done.

"When it comes to the Juneteenth, we as the community need to come together a little bit more. We have lost focus on why we have Juneteenth. It has always been about our children and teaching them how to pay it forward," said Jones.