Daily Sun Stuff
Several events will be held this weekend in Flagstaff and northern Arizona to commemorate Juneteenth, as Union soldiers took the more than 250,000 black Americans still enslaved in Texas after the Civil War ended. Celebrate the day you were released.
The community is invited to join the Coconino County African Diversity Advisory Council (ADAC) for the 2023 Juneteenth Celebration in partnership with the Southside Community Association and the Lived Black Experience Community Project.
This three-day event is the second in a three-day Juneteenth celebration in Flagstaff.
“We are thrilled to once again celebrate Juneteenth Freedom Day with the Coconino County community,” said Flagstaff City Councilman and County ADAC Chair Caller House. “The NAACP noted that freedom is a thread and a struggle woven into the history of this nation. We are both honored to celebrate the thread of connection we all share in hope.”
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This week, the House of Representatives also introduced measures within Congress to formally recognize a Juneteen holiday in Flagstaff.
On Tuesday, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to recognize and officially celebrate Juneteenth in the county.
In 2021, the federal government designated June 1 as a public holiday by the Biden administration.
Opal Lee’s dream of making Juneteenth a federal holiday finally came true over the summer, but the soon-to-be-95-year-old Texan Opal Lee’s work isn’t done anytime soon. “I think it’s in my DNA. I have to do nothing but help people. I don’t know what else to do,” Lee told the Associated Press. Told.
“The Diversity Awareness Commission has been working with the Indigenous Peoples Commission on a number of recommendations for Juneteenth and for the official commemoration of Indigenous Peoples Day,” House told city council.
The event in Flagstaff kicks off today with the official Juneteenth Gala at the DoubleTree by Hilton at 1175 West of Route 66. Gala tickets are $50 and can be purchased from Eventbrite.
On Saturday, the Juneteen Community Celebration will be held at South Beaver School at 506 S. Beaver St. with live entertainment and information tables including the Arizona Historical Society, the County Diversity Council and more.
The three-day celebration will conclude on Sunday with the Juneteenth Gospel Concert at Flagstaff’s Church of Christ at 3475 Solière Avenue.
Additionally, the National Park Service will also be hosting several Juneteenth-related events on June 19 at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
At 10am, a Ranger Talk will be held at the Visitor Center in Verkamp, ​​exploring the history and meaning of Juneteenth across the United States and the Valley.
The program is immediately followed by a ranger-led 4.5-mile Freedom Walk from the Historic Village to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. The walk is meant to symbolize that it took him two and a half years for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.
Then, from 11am to 4pm, visitors and community members can visit the Grand Canyon Visitor Center Plaza to learn more about Juneteenth and watch live music by the Aaron McCall Band.
Deborah Harris, current Flagstaff City Council Member and South Side Community Association Board Member, celebrates June 19, 2019 with Smokey Bear at Murdoch Community Center in Flagstaff.
Provided file photo
Finally, at 3:00 PM, the park will host a special presentation at the Grand Canyon Visitor Center by Tonto National Forest project archaeologist Margaret Hangan. Her program, “African American History and Migration to Northern Arizona,” explores the mechanisms that brought African Americans to the American West, with an emphasis on the Grand Canyon region.
Celebrated annually on June 19th, Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the end of slavery.
