Juneteenth Celebration of Freedom Festival in Antioch

Join Grace Arms for our Juneteenth Celebrate Freedom festival. This event is to inform, educate and unify the community through music, entertainment and community engagement.

Date & Time: Sat, June 19, 2021 @ 11:30 AM – 4:30 PM PDT

Location: Grace Arms, 3415 Oakley Rd, Antioch, CA 94509

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/grace-arms-of-antioch-juneteenth-celebration-of-freedom-free-tickets-151886240835

Please follow COVID safety protocols.


HISTORY OF JUNETEENTH

https://www.gracearmsofantioch.org/juneteenth

What is Juneteeth?

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Though the Emancipation Proclamation was given by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the beginning of the end of slavery wouldn’t be recognized until some-time later - June 19, 1865.

The Juneteenth Freedom Festival exists to share the history of slavery and to memorialize its ending. We honor the sacrifice of our ancestors & share the cultural heritage of slaves and their descendants through entertainment, art, education, and an ever-present, always-developing sense of community.

It may not be a national holiday, but Juneteenth marks a major milestone for America. Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated on June 19 that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Across the country, the day is marked with events and parades.

Start of Juneteenth Celebration

On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas, to inform a reluctant community that President Abraham Lincoln two years earlier had freed the slaves and to press locals to comply with his directive.

Why did it take so long for the news to get to Texas?

There is no one reason why there was a 2½-year delay in letting Texas know about the abolition of slavery in the United States, according to Juneteenth.com. The historical site said some accounts place the delay on a messenger who was murdered on his way to Texas with the news, while others say the news was deliberately withheld.

Despite the delay, slavery did not end in Texas overnight, according to an article by Henry Louis Gates Jr. originally posted on The Root. Gates said after New Orleans fell, many slavers traveled to Texas with their slaves to escape regulations enforced by the Union Army in other states.