Symbol of a new NHFD era: Firefighters Shy Floyd and Shemica Foreman.
Maya McFadden Photo
Firefighters sport Juneteenth T-shirts.
Saving lives and celebrating Juneteenth are on the agenda this month for the New Haven Fire Department (NHFD).
Juneteenth was recognized last year as a federal holiday. This year the NHFD has made it a mission to spread awareness of the holiday, which commemorates the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when the announcement proclaiming freedom for enslaved African Americans reached Texas two years later than Abraham Lincoln’s issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The celebration takes the form of wearing newly printed T‑shirts. The red shirts read “Juneteenth” on the right shoulder with the number 19. while the opposing shoulder depicts an American flag. The front and back of the shirt read “City of New Haven Fire Department.”
For the entire month of June the NHFD personnel will wear the Juneteenth T‑shirts while on duty. A total of $9,000 was made from the shirt sales to firefighters, their families, and friends in and out of state. The remaining profit of $3,500 (after payments to the vendor) will be donated to a sickle cell fundraiser hosted by the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi.
Juneteenth has been added as one of the many monthly celebrations by the NHFD, including Autism Awareness, Breast Cancer Awareness, Military Appreciation, and Sickle Cell Awareness months.
Local educators and community members sport NHFD Juneteenth tees.
In addition to promoting awareness to the holiday, Capt. Troy Frost and firefighters Shy Floyd and Shemica Foreman said, the shirts have brought unity and camaraderie in the department.
Frost, who spearheaded the T‑shirt project, thanked Fire Chief John Alston Jr. for being receptive to the firefighters’ voices and for agreeing to make Juneteenth an annual celebration. He added that the NHFD is the first department in the country to do a department-wide celebration of Juneteenth.
Floyd and Foreman.
“We went through a divide in past, but this is bringing us back together,” said Foreman, who has been firefighter for 20 years.
While out in the community, the firefighters also hope to spark educational conversations amongst the community about Juneteenth.
“We want this to be infectious,” Floyd said.
Frost, who has been with the NHFD for 18 years, and Foreman agreed that when they first joined department, “this wouldn’t have happened.”
“As Black women, to have a voice and a word in this meant the world,” Foreman said. “In the past it wasn’t like that.”
Battalion Chief Justin Bialecki said he is excited to be in a department that recognizes all history and its diversity.
“While we’re visible in the community, we can bring the holiday to the forefront,” he said. “We’re behind the community in more than one way.”
While a crew of new recruits in training marched to a live fire simulation Tuesday, they wore red recruit shirts each tagged with their names. By the end of the month they will be promoted to firefighters for a department that emphasizes solidarity, Bialecki said.