Fri 6/19 @ 7PM
The annual celebration of Juneteenth on June 19 marks the day in 1865 when slaves in Texas, the last state reached by the Emancipation Proclamation, were freed. It’s been celebrated in Texas since 1866 and it’s long been a day for festive feasts and other parties in the black community.
It’s currently officially observed as a state holiday or ceremonial observance in all but three states (surprisingly, none of them are in the south: the Dakotas and Hawaii), with all but a handful of the declarations coming in just the last 20 years.
Many white people, however, have just learned about it in the last few weeks, partly due to the sudden explosive growth of awareness of black community issues and partly because Trump blundered (or did he?) in booking his first post-pandemic rally on that day in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was also the site of one of the world massacres of black people by white mobs in the U.S. in 1921. (He later changed this, claiming an awareness of the sensitivity of the date, which apparently no one on his team knew about initially. OK, Trumpsters).
With all that’s been going on, Juneteenth this year should be especially fierce. And in Cleveland, there’s no one more appropriate to hold a celebration than Karamu, which houses the U.S.’s oldest black theater, over a hundred years old.
They’ll be holding a celebration called “Freedom on Juneteenth,” featuring music, dance, spoken word and conversation arund how to create change in the community, an original production directed and produced by Karamu president/CEO Tony F. Sias. They say it’s “designed to celebrate, educate, heal and activate audiences.”
“Audiences will be invited and encouraged to utilize the shared resources and to transform anger, disgust and frustration into decisive ballot responses in November, especially within local elections,” they say. “Karamu House seeks to help educate all people on the political process and remind America that lawmakers serve at the pleasure of the people.”
The 90-minute event, which will be taking place on Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Fire TV and ROKU, will feature around 20 artists. Go here for information on how to follow.
Cleveland, OH 44106