Local Events and Stories
- Juneteenth Weekend Celebration 6/16-6/18 Bellamy Harbor East 420 Harbor Way, Rome, NY Join us for a weekend full of events such as live music on Friday, a vendor fair on Saturday and a Church Service on Sunday!
- Juneteenth NY Festival 2023 "The East New York and Brownsville community have been a huge support in building the Juneteenth NY Festival into a community staple. We're honored to gather thousands together in recognition of the Juneteenth National Holiday Over the last 14 years."
- RMSC Museum & Science Center: Juneteenth Event RMSC Museum & Science Center 657 East Avenue Rochester, NY 14607-2177
- Watertown Juneteenth Celebration Saturday, June 17, 2023 12:00 PM - 5:00 PM (ET) McVean Student Center (4), JCC Quad Jefferson Community College 1220 Coffeen Street Watertown NY 13601
- Utica University Celebrates Juneteenth "Joining the greater Utica community, the Utica University Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Student Transitions (DEI) will celebrate the history of Black liberation at the upcoming Juneteenth Celebration."
Official Juneteenth Poem
We Rose
By Kristina Kay
From Africa’s heart, we rose
Already a people, our faces ebon, our bodies lean,
We rose
Skills of art, life, beauty, and family
Crushed by forces we knew nothing of, we rose
Survive we must, we did,
We rose
We rose to be you, we rose to be me,
Above everything expected, we rose
To become the knowledge we never knew,
We rose
Dream, we did
Act we must
Podcasts & Spotify Playlist
- The History and Meaning of Juneteenth "After 155 years, Juneteenth, a celebration of the emancipation of enslaved Americans, is being acknowledged as a holiday by corporations and state governments across the country. Today, we consider why, throughout its history, Juneteenth has gained prominence at moments of pain in the struggle for black liberation in America. We also ask: What does freedom mean now?"
- The Peas in the Podcast: Merry Juneteenth "Today is the Second American Independence day! Juneteenth. A day of glorious black people remembrance and celebration. Hear the Peas discuss what Juneteenth is all about, the ways they celebrate Juneteenth, and the culinary past of the holiday. Grab yo grandmama’s collard greens and sit right on back til the itis takes hold!"
- The Takeaway: 153 Years of Juneteenth "Although, the Emancipation Proclamation - which changed the federal legal status of 3.5 Million people from slave to free - was signed on January 1, 1863, news of their change in status did not reach the enslaved people in the southern states immediately. June 19, 1865 was the day the last group of enslaved people were set free in Galveston, Texas. The truth is, many Americans do not know about Juneteenth. Actress Jenifer Lewis, who plays Grandma Ruby on Black-ish joins us to discuss why having Juneteenth in the "mainstream" is important."
- Therapy For Black Girls Podcast "The Therapy for Black Girls podcast is a weekly conversation with Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, about all things mental health, personal development, and all the small decisions we can make to become the best possible version of ourselves."
- Truth Be Told "We’re the friend you call after a long day. The one who gets it. Through soul-nourishing conversations, host Tonya Mosley explores Black liberation with some of the greatest thinkers of our time. Season 5 explores what the latest psychedelic renaissance means for the Black diaspora"
- Louder Than A Riot "Hip-hop emerged from the voices of the unheard. But freedom doesn't ring the same for everyone. Inside all corners of the culture, Black women and queer folk have dealt with the same oppression the music was built to escape."
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the freedom of the slaves in the United States. The day is also called Emancipation Day and Freedom Day.
On June 19, 1865, the Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas to declare that the war had ended and the enslaved were now free. This communication was two and a half years after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation(January 1, 1863). The Emancipation Proclamation had minimal impact on the Texans due to the few Union troops enforcing the new order. This changed with the surrender of General Lee in 1865, and General Granger’s regiment, who were finally strong enough to overcome the resistance.*
*Sourced from Juneteenth.com
Juneteenth: Fact Sheet - From Juneteenth.com
- The Juneteenth Foundation "The Juneteenth Foundation was founded for the purpose of building a movement to recognize Juneteenth and celebrate the excellence of Black culture and freedom." - Mission Statement
- NAACP "The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du Bois, Mary White Ovington, Moorfield Storey, and Ida B. Wells."
- ACLU "Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees."
- The Juneteenth Legacy Project "The Juneteenth Legacy Project (J19LP) is a Galveston-based nonprofit organization. Sam Collins is its president, and Steven Creitz and Sheridan Lorenz are vice presidents. The Galveston-based Nia Cultural Center is the Juneteenth Legacy Project’s fiscal sponsor, accepting tax-deductible donations on behalf of the organization. "
Videos
Physical Books & E-Books
The Nickel Boys (Winner 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) by
"As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy, whose mission statement says it provides "physical, intellectual and moral training" so the delinquent boys in their charge can become "honorable and honest men." In reality, the Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear "out back." Stunned to find himself in such a vicious environment, Elwood tries to hold onto Dr. King's ringing assertion "Throw us in jail and we will still love you." His friend Turner thinks Elwood is worse than naive, that the world is crooked, and that the only way to survive is to scheme and avoid trouble. The tension between Elwood's ideals and Turner's skepticism leads to a decision whose repercussions will echo down the decades. Formed in the crucible of the evils Jim Crow wrought, the boys' fates will be determined by what they endured at the Nickel Academy."
Call Number: PS3573.H4768 N53 2019
Juneteenth by
"Juneteenth has been touted as a national day celebrating the end of slavery. Observances from coast to coast have turned this event into part of the national conversation about race, slavery, and how Americans understand, acknowledge, and explain what has been called the national 'original sin.' But, why Juneteenth? Where did this celebration--which promises to become a national holiday--come from? What is the origin story? What are the facts, and legends, around this important day in the nation's history? This is the first scholarly book to delve into the history behind Juneteenth. Using decades of research in archives around the nation, this book helps separate myth from reality and tells the story behind the celebration in a way that provides new understanding and appreciation for the event."--Jacket
Brown Girl Dreaming by
"The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South"-- Provided by publisher
Call Number: PS3573 .O64524 Z46 2016
The Fire Next Time by
"Two letters, written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism."
Call Number: E185.61 .B195
The New Jim Crow by
"A tenth-anniversary edition of the iconic bestseller'"one of the most influential books of the 20 years," according to the Chronicle of Higher Education'with a new preface by the author. Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander's unforgettable argument that "we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." As the Birmingham News proclaimed, it is "undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S." Now, ten years after it was first published, The New Press is proud to issue a tenth-anniversary edition with a new preface by Michelle Alexander that discusses the impact the book has had and the state of the criminal justice reform movement today."--Provided by publisher.
Juneteenth by
"The story of a black man who passes for white and becomes a race-baiting U.S. senator. When he is shot on the Senate floor, the first visitor in hospital is a black musician-turned-preacher who raised him. As the two men talk, their respective stories come out. An unfinished novel by the author of Invisible Man."
Call Number: PS3555.L625 J86 1999
Children of Blood and Bone by
"Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy."
Call Number: PZ7.1 .A24 Ch 2018
Beloved by
"Sethe, an escaped slave living in post-Civil War Ohio with her daughter and mother-in-law, is haunted persistently by the ghost of the dead baby girl whom she sacrificed."
Call Number: PS3563.O8749 B4 1998b
Homegoing by
"Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into two different tribal villages in 18th century Ghana. Effia will be married off to an English colonial, and will live in comfort in the sprawling, palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising half-caste children who will be sent abroad to be educated in England before returning to the Gold Coast to serve as administrators of the Empire. Her sister, Esi, will be imprisoned beneath Effia in the Castle's women's dungeon, and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, where she will be sold into slavery. Stretching from the tribal wars of Ghana to slavery and Civil War in America, from the coal mines in the north to the Great Migration to the streets of 20th century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi's has written a modern masterpiece, a novel that moves through histories and geographies and--with outstanding economy and force--captures the troubled spirit of our own nation"--Publisher's description.Ghana, eighteenth century: two half sisters are born into different villages, each unaware of the other. One will marry and Englishman and lead a life of comfort in the palatial rooms of the Cape Coast Castle. The other will be captured in a raid on her village, imprisoned in the very same castle, and sold into slavery. Homegoing follows the parallel paths of these sisters and their descendants through eight generations: from the Gold Coast to the plantations of Mississippi, from the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem. Yaa Gyasi's extraordinary novel illuminates slavery's troubled legacy both for those who were taken and those who stayed -- and shows how the memory of captivity has been inscribed on the soul of our nation--Back cover.
Call Number: PS3607.Y37 H66 2016
