Juneteenth Committee
It’s estimated that 30,000+ people attend the Juneteenth festival of Buffalo — with approximately 5,000+ in the annual Juneteenth parade. The festival celebrates decades of honoring Black history, as well as celebrating freedom and community pride. The festival was started in 1976 by B.U.I.L.D., a community-based organization. It was held on Jefferson Avenue; murals were painted and vendors had booths. After several years, the Juneteenth Festival outgrew Jefferson Avenue and moved to Martin Luther King Jr. Park.
Our Juneteenth Committee ensures that the Minority Bar Association of Western New York has a strong presence at the festival. It carries out the in-depth planning required for us to occupy a tent at the event, staff it with volunteers, and distribute important information about the law and community resources.
Committee Chair
Our Juneteenth Committee is currently chaired by Norvella C. Pendergrass.
Pendergrass is an assistant district attorney in the Special Investigation Prosecution Bureau for the Erie County District Attorney’s Office. She has been an assistant district attorney since February of 2017. She attended law school at North Carolina Central University School of Law. Pendergrass practiced as a sole practitioner for her first two years, trialing major cases — from guns to murder. She is licensed to practice law in the State of New York and the District of Columbia. Prior to law school, she attended Colgate University, where she was able to study overseas in places such as Denmark and Jamaica — cultural experiences for which she will always be grateful. She was raised on the East Side of Buffalo and remains there.