FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: TAMARA STALEY 215-472-5416
Welcome to the Philadelphia Juneteenth Family's 2021 Annual Juneteenth Celebration! A celebration ofliberation and unity.
Commencing
on Monday, June 7th, The Philadelphia Juneteenth Family will host a
Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony, in conjunction with the National Juneteenth Observance
Foundation, which will be hosting similar celebrations across the nation - both in person
and virtually.
PHILADELPHIA's phase of the kickoff program will begin at 11:30 am at City Hall at the Flagpole on the North Broad Street side. Beautiful renditions of the National Anthem, performed by Henry McMillan of UGO, and the Black National Anthem, performed by Evelyn Graves Drama Productions will be heard.
As guests arrive, they will be regaled by the sounds of New Orleans Jazz performed by the Universal Dance and Drum Ensemble's UCC Brass Band.
General
Order #3, issued by Union Army General Gordon Granger to announce the
end of slavery in Texas,
will be read to the audience
and participants at the Philadelphia kickoff ceremony. This was the
same historic order read to those who were still being held as slaves
in Texas on June 19, 1865, two years after other slaves in the south
had already been set free. These last
remaining enslaved Africans in Galveston, TX, learning that the
Emancipation Proclamation had been signed two years prior by President
Abraham Lincoln in 1863, and that they were
now free, and no longer bound broke into an eruption of jubilation,
dancing, and celebration on that historic day, that it quickly became
known as JUNETEENTH. Newly freed slaves burst into dancing and singing
and praising God, pulling family and friends out of the fields, and It
was celebrated broadly throughout all the plantations and ranches in
Texas and eventually spread to Oklahoma (which was free territory),
Louisiana, Missouri and
other neighboring states, among formerly enslaved
Black people.
The celebration in Philadelphia will include several elected officials, along with community leaders, who have been invited to speak at the June 7 Kickoff Ceremony. There are also daily celebrations scheduled leading up to June 19, 2021.
The Philadelphia Juneteenth Family, along with our community partners, the Greater Philadelphia YMCA and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, is also presenting a Juneteenth Poster and Essay Contest for Children and Youth enrolled in their programs, ages 6-19. Cash prizes totaling $2,500 will be awarded to the winners, along with internships with our production and social media partners Elements Media and Ducor Media. Contest winners’ posters and essays will be on display at the YMCA and Recreation Centers. All the youth will receive a certificate of participation.
Parx Casino has created the Parx Juneteenth Museum, as the result of a community partnership with The Philadelphia Juneteenth Family, and in collaboration with the Philadelphia African American Museum, the new Bucks County African American Museum, and the Lest We Forget Slavery Museum.
A video of the Mother of Juneteenth, 94 year old Opal Lee from Dallas, Texas, telling her story of triumph of 40 years of advocating for Juneteenth to become a National Holiday. This project is part of Parx Casino’s diversity program.
Another stellar highlight of the 2021 Juneteenth Ceremony will be The "Garvey Freedom Lights" Project, featuring the Black Liberation colors of Red, Black & Green. The lighting will start June 13 and continue through June 19th (aka Juneteenth). We will light up the Philadelphia skyline and and the colors will be displayed throughout the City of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection on such skyscrapers, city buildings, and landmarks as Boat House Row, the Ben Franklin Bridge, the Philadelphia Airport Tower, Parx, Rivers and Live! Casinos, Independence Blue Cross, PECO Crown Lights, North Broad Street Lights, Cira Centre, FMC Tower, Liberty Place One and Two, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, the Philadelphia Art Museum, Lincoln Financial Field and more.
Please check our FB page for additional information
The best times to tour and see the Garvey Freedom Lights will be June 17th through 19th, starting at dusk each evening.
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