Rosewood Neighborhood Park: a place to gather, play, laugh and learn. The history within the park is evident with the Henry G. Madison Cabin and beautiful artwork on the Eastlink Pillars.
All of these factors played into Daniel Thomas and Antony Jackson taking it upon themselves to adopt Rosewood Neighborhood Park in March.
Both Daniel and Antony, grew up in and around the Rosewood area. They recalled family reunions, hot summer days cooling off in the pool and a place where they could create memories.
“As kids, for me, that was the park that I was raised up in.” – Daniel
Daniel and Antony both used the term “safe haven” to describe Rosewood.
“In that time when we were living there, there were some things in the community that we didn’t want to be involved in, so to always be able to go to the park with family and friends, that gave us activities of fun and unity, and really based around community.” – Antony
That feeling of community, and creating a safe haven, is what they’re working toward. They’ve already started to implement open workdays and events within the park. Over Easter weekend, they hosted an egg hunt in the park and had attendees coming in from various cities in Central Texas. The consensus from those in attendance:
“Man, this reminds me of back in the day!”
A feeling that resonates with the Rosewood community.
Over the weekend, there was more community and celebration to be had at the Central Texas Juneteenth Park Festival, held on June 15. The celebration began with a parade that starts at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Leona Street and ends at Rosewood Neighborhood Park, where the festival begins.
“Juneteenth means so much to our people. It’s done right there in Rosewood so we all get together and utilize that space, that park, this area that means so much to us again. We’re able to kind of relive the past and build off of it. Once we collectively get in that area again and we get to having fun, we get to thinking about how it used to be, then our creative minds get to start thinking about how can we further this and keep it going. So, you know, Juneteenth means a whole lot to us and allows us to come back to appreciate the land that was ours.” – Antony
Learn more about Austin’s park history and how it is deeply connected to the achievements of Black Austinites here.