AMHERST — Through a combination of choir music, Black-owned business tabling, community awards, a fashion show and a buffet-style meal, the Amherst Juneteenth Jubilee brought its 17th annual celebration to life on Friday.

The celebration at St. Brigid’s auditorium was organized by the Black Business Association of Amherst Area, an organization that empowers local businesses to help them grow, in partnership with Sankofa Gumbo, a nonprofit that promotes and celebrates the culture and traditions of African-descendant people.

The BBAAA celebrated its 10-year anniversary at the Juneteenth celebration and Pat Ononibaku, the organization’s president, told the story of the group’s founding.

“In 2016, during the summertime, a group of Black business owners, they came to my former business, Baku’s African Restaurant,” Ononibaku said. “We were just chatting and we had been feeling very invisible within the business community in Amherst.”

From the momentum that came out of Ononibaku’s conversation with other business owners, a decision to form a group to support each other was made.

“Since 2016 up to now, our membership has grown like three or four times,” she said.

Ononibaku also announced that for its 10-year anniversary, the BBAAA will be giving out microgrants to its business members starting in September.

The members of the BBAAA that filled the room were: Grounded in Wellness 365, Kesm9t Productions, co-authors Tom Weiner and Amilcar Shabazz, Cards by Coleman, author Mattea Kramer, Afri(K)que, K.N.A Beauty and BakuCare, among others.

Tiffany Joseph of Grounded in Wellness 365, a holistic wellness business that has been a part of the BBAAA for four years, said she appreciates the organization’s mentorship and its involvement in the Juneteenth celebration.

“There’s a part of this event that just feels like a family reunion because I see a lot of these folks quite often,” Joseph said.

She added that she appreciates Ononibaku giving her and other businesses places to be seen and heard.

To honor the day and showcase Black resilience, an Extraordinary Leadership Award was presented to Kathleen Anderson and a Youth Leadership Award was given to Charles Elijah Walker-Hoover.

State Rep. Mindy Domb presented Anderson with her award.

“Kathleen is an artist, a neighbor, an advocate and a leader in so many areas,” Domb said.

She discussed Anderson’s leadership in local, statewide and national reparations work, her efforts to secure justice locally and across the country, as well as her many years of service on the Amherst School Committee. Anderson is also a part of the BBAAA with her award-winning jewelry business kdqDesigns.

Sankofa Gumbo’s President Amilcar Shabazz, who was also one of Walker-Hoover’s professors at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, presented him with his award.

Walker-Hoover received the 21st Century Leader Award from UMass Amherst this spring when he graduated with a degree in Afro-American studies. He served as senator in the UMass Student Government Association and president of the university’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, while also regularly being named to the dean’s list.

In his speech, Walker-Hoover talked about his grandmother, who grew up in Huntsville, Texas, not too far from Galveston, Texas, the birthplace of Juneteenth. The day marks the anniversary of when federal troops arrived in Galveston in 1865 to ensure that all enslaved people were freed, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

“When she cooked us cherry pie, she would always tell us, ‘Remember your ancestors, remember the importance of education, and even though Juneteenth isn’t yet a national holiday, celebrate it like it is,’” he said.

To close the celebration, Shabazz invited attendees to join in a paragraph-by-paragraph reading of Frederick Douglass’ “What is a Slave to the Fourth of July?”