In a city that has become known as a landmark to black pain, Friday was a day for black joy.

More than a thousand people gathered along Greenwood Avenue — the site of one of America’s worst racist attacks — to celebrate Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates when enslaved black Americans in Texas formally learned of emancipation. The end of a centuries-long massacre.

In any year, Juneteenth in Tulsa means something different than it does in other cities, according to black residents. The exuberance more palpable, the music more soulful, against the backdrop of the 1921 white riot that killed an estimated 300 black Tulsans and destroyed the area once known as “Black Wall Street”.

“We’re celebrating the emancipation of slaves, but we’re really celebrating the idea of being black,” said Jacquelyn Simmons, who has lived in Tulsa for 45 years. “We love it and we love us.”

But this was not any year. Organisers planned to cancel their annual Juneteenth celebration amid the national coronavirus pandemic.

Then President Trump announced a campaign rally in the city, originally slated to be held on the Friday holiday but later moved to Saturday.

With that event looming, and national protests raging about injustice and police brutality, what was typically a celebration of resilience had transformed into one of defiance. “Black Lives Matter” was painted in bright yellow letters across Greenwood Avenue. Attendees said they were celebrating not only how black ancestors were freed from enslavement, but also the persistence of black Americans today — from a pandemic that has disproportionately affected black communities, police departments that disproportionately kill black people, and a President who has shown little willingness to acknowledge the reality of both.