Salt Lake Community College has a festival planned to celebrate Juneteenth, and they're inviting the public to participate.
Jerri Harwell, Department Chair and Associate Professor of English, Linguistics and Writing Studies at SLCC, says Juneteenth is a relatively new holiday and is linked to our country's history — a specific event in history that meany are not aware of.
Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day is celebrated on June 24, and the name comes from a combination of the month of June and the date 19th, which was the date that the slaves on Galveston Island, Texas learned they had been freed as per Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
We know from US history that Lincoln issued two Emancipation Proclamations, one in 1863 which freed all the slaves in the rebellion states. The second one that ended slavery for all in 1865.
Jerri explained that many people think that Juneteenth marks when the slaves were freed, but that is not true.
Juneteenth celebrates what is believed to be when the last group of enslaved African Americans learned they had been freed years earlier.
This happened on June 19, 1865, when General Gordon Granger and his military company arrived in Galveston and read the second Emancipation Proclamation.
It has long been celebrated among Black communities.
The festival at SLCC includes a spoken word performer, Ashely Finley, who gave us a snippet of her performance.
The Spoken Word is a dynamic art form that incorporates elements of hip-hop, storytelling, theater and music.
There will also be other entertainment including dancers and singers, vendors from black owned businesses and complimentary food.
It takes place on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 from 6-8pm at the Taylorsville Redwood Campus, at the Student Center.
You can learn more at slcc.edu/Juneteenth.
