The Manhattan Beach City Council on Tuesday honored Janet Allen, psychologist at Mira Costa High School and founding faculty advisor of the school's Black Scholars Union, for her leadership in creating the city's Juneteenth event.

The city presented her with a commendation for "exceptional service to MB United and invaluable guidance, empowering mentorship, and profound contributions to organizing the annual Juneteenth celebration."

"I just remember we were all here in this board room in January 2024, and we were planning and voting and all of us pushing forward for the city to adopt a three-year plan for Juneteenth, and we're just so thankful and grateful that that moved forward," said Allen. 

Manhattan Beach's annual Juneteenth Celebration and Concert -- featuring food, music, and local vendors -- will be held on Sunday, June 21, from 2 to 7 p.m. 

Allen, who worked with Mira Costa Black Scholars Union students to advocate for the event, told councilmembers, "So many students wrote about this in their college essays and how this impacted them in terms of moving forward with history, being so excited about the future and their lives...[and] how empowerment works in their local city where they attend school... Being advocates of city government, being advocates for social justice, uplifting positive ways to share... it's been amazing," she said. 

Allen, a member of MB United, has been faculty advisor to the Black Scholars Union since 2011 and has coordinated Mira Costa High School’s  Black History Month Assembly since 2013. 

While advocating for the Juneteenth celebration back in 2024, Allen had noted that her grandparents and great-grandparents were only allowed to go to Bruce's Beach and those beaches like it that were reserved for Black beach-goers.