Lincoln New Age will be holding its annual Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 17.
According to member Jackie Anderson, the group will first meet at Walgreens at 9:30 am to march to Lincoln Park.
The group will then have keynote speakers, education upon Juneteenth, activities, food, games, and a day of fellowship.
“It is important to us to commemorate this historic day in American history,” Anderson said. “This is not only black history, but all our history. We would love to have our city and local leaders join us and all our neighbors throughout Elk City.”
Also known as Jubilee Day, Juneteenth has long been celebrated as the day that the enslaved Americans being held in Galveston, Texas, were finally freed in 1865. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had been signed by President Abraham Lincoln two years prior on January 1, 1863, that news had not yet traveled to isolated parts of the Lone Star State.
On June 19, 1865, United States Army Major General Gordon Granger issued an order in Galveston proclaiming the enslaved in Texas as free.
Juneteenth has been an annual celebration since 1866. Juneteenth National Independence Day became a federal holiday in the United States in 2021 and is generally celebrated on the third Saturday in June.
“All are welcome,” Anderson stated. “For us at Lincoln New Age, this is a special day to honor love, survival, family, and freedom. American history is simply the story of all of us and how we have gotten to the place we are now.”
