SDARJ to host a celebration of Juneteenth

The Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ) will present “A Celebration of Juneteenth” at their town hall meeting on Tuesday, June 14, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., via Zoom. The program will include a presentation of the history and significance of the new national holiday, original poetry, dance, music, and reminiscences of Juneteenths past.

For over 100 years, Juneteenth has been celebrated annually on the 19th of June to mark the date that some of the last enslaved people in the Confederacy became free in 1865. This was two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Lincoln and seven months after the ratification of the 13th Amendment.

On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed a bill declaring Juneteenth a national holiday. Delaware declared Juneteenth a state holiday in October, 2021. A representative of the Delaware Juneteenth Association, which actively promoted state and national commemoration of the end of chattel slavery in the U.S., will join the online celebration.

Click here to register for the town hall.