Local Women Bring Awareness of JUNETEENTH

Juneteenth is the black American holiday everyone should celebrate. Three local women, Monique TaChae, Sadora Montgomery and Whitney Banks teamed up in order to raise awareness of such an important day —African-American Independence Day. On June 18, they hosted an Open Panel Discussion “For the Culture” that included poetry, dance and networking at the Collingwood Arts Center.

Then, on Juneteenth (June 19) there was a Dashiki Day Party from 6 p.m. to midnight at Club Agenda Sports Bar and Grill. The Dashiki Party was free and everyone was asked to come dressed in beautiful African attire, dashikis or anything that represents black culture. 

The first public Juneteenth events occurred in 1866, preceding any similar commemoration of the Confederacy legacy in Texas. At these events, former slaves read the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation—subversively honoring Abraham Lincoln as the Great Emancipator at a time when white Texans saw the slain president as the destroyer of Southern “freedom”—sang spirituals, held games, and celebrated freedom.  

Juneteenth was made a Texas state holiday in 1980, and in 1997, Congress recognized June 19 as “Juneteenth Independence Day,” after pressure from a collection of groups like the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage and National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation. This year marked the 151st anniversary of the first Juneteenth. 

Copyright © 2018 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 08/16/18 14:12:09 -0700.

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