We had the opportunity to volunteer and perform at the Annual Cooper’s Family Juneteenth Fesitval.
For the past 50 years, the Cooper Family Juneteenth has been a unique event in San Diego. It’s history traces back to a man named Sidney Cooper Sr. who owned and ran the Twilight Barber Shop and the Cooper & Sons’ Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Produce Store on 2973 Imperial Avenue, along with his wife
Thelma who ran the adjacent Powder Puff Beauty Salon. A very proud Black man, Sidney strongly believed in the importance of supporting Black-owned businesses, giving back to the community, fostering entrepreneurship, and getting an education . Known as “the Mayor of Imperial Avenue” because of his heavy involvement in and love for his community, the hosting of Juneteenth was just one of the many ways Sydney gave back to the neighborhood he cared for so much.
The Cooper family continues to expand on the long established relationships built over many years to both preserve the heritage of this historically Black neighborhood, and be inclusive of the growing multicultural aspects of this now racially diverse
