A celebration of the end of slavery
Juneteenth is known as the celebration of the abolition of slavery in Texas on June 19, 1865 and the emancipation of African-American slaves throughout the Confederate states.
The 48thannual celebration in Santa Rosa will offer fun, good music and tasty food, but Nancy Rogers, event chairperson, said the event is about more than that.
“The goal of the event is to show the community that its freedom didn’t just come out of nowhere,” she said. “Someone had to pay a price for that freedom and you don’t ever want to forget that.”
The family-friendly celebration will take place on Saturday, June 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Martin Luther King Park, 1671 Hendley St. The event is free.
A variety of food vendors will be on site and bringing blankets to picnic is encouraged. There will be live music featuring a blues band and several community gospel choirs.
Rogers said spreading knowledge about the significance of Juneteenth is a crucial part of the community celebration. This year an art display tent will be available showcasing black artists. Scholarships and awards will be presented during the event and there will be local black history trivia throughout the day.
“We want more and more people to have knowledge of what’s going on in our community,” Rogers said.
Juneteenth will include a variety of children’s activities offering a chance to develop skills. Those activities include basketball drills, flag football, water balloon toss, soccer and dance. Valentino’s of Cotati will be offering free hair cuts for children.
For the first time, Juneteenth will feature the black history performance of “Unshackled,” a Legacy Showcases production. The two-hour, interactive performance is open for people of all ages, races and genders. It takes place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. in Martin Luther King Park.
According to the production’s website, “Unshackled” consists of three components: A stage play set in 1865 at a southern plantation where its slaves are being emancipated and both blacks and whites express their diverse feelings about this new lifestyle of freedom, facilitated participant assessments and discussions on race-related issues and a closing presentation summarizing participants’ resolutions that promote understanding, tolerance, and freedom.
The Underground Railroad African American Pop Up Museum will take part in the event. According to its website, there will be a display of artifacts and information from the period of the involuntary enslavement of Africans, the diaspora to the Americas, up to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth to today.
Juneteenth is sponsored by Red Rose Catering of Santa Rosa and funded in part by a Community Improvement Grant from the city of Santa Rosa. For more information visit the Santa Rosa Juneteenth Festival Facebook page.
