City of Greensboro Celebrates Juneteenth

In honor of Juneteenth, the City of Greensboro will celebrate African American culture and history through a series of events streamed on the city’s Facebook page and YouTube channel, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, June 19.

Juneteenth is the oldest known commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger announced that all enslaved people in Texas were free by order of the President of the United States. The announcement came two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863.

The day’s signature lineup includes a conversation about soul food with celebrity chef and television star Carla Hall and culinary historian Dr. Jessica B. Harris, to be followed by a live question and answer session with Hall at 12:50 p.m. The program. will begin at 12 p.m.

The Juneteenth celebration’s finale will be a panel discussion, “Exclusion by Design: From Redlining to Gentrification,” about how systemic discrimination has created barriers to African American families owning homes and transferring wealth to future generations. This program. will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Juneteenth Schedule

The following programs are sponsored by the City of Greensboro Libraries and Museum Department, Parks and Recreation Department, Creative Greensboro and community partners.

• 9 a.m. – Welcome and City of Greensboro Proclamation
• 9:20 a.m. – Juneteenth Children’s Storytime with Greensboro Public Library
• 9:40 a.m. – Meet African American Inventors
• 10 a.m. – Song telling with T. Dianne Bellamy Small, an exploration of Negro Spirituals and the Negro National Anthem through history and song
• 10:35 a.m. – God with Us, a history of local African American churches with the Greensboro History Museum’s Curator Rodney Dawson
• 11:25 a.m. – Freedom and Fortitude, a lesson about Juneteenth pageants
• 11:40 a.m. – Celebrating the Types, Textures and Styles of Black Hair
• 12 p.m. – Soul Food Looks Back: A Juneteenth Culinary Conversation with Carla Hall and Dr. Jessica B. Harris
• 1:05 p.m. – Juneteenth and the Divine 9, a discussion with local sorority and fraternity partners about service, social justice and more
• 2:10 p.m. – Library Resources and Materials on Juneteenth and its history
• 2:20 p.m. – Finding Your Roots: African Americans and Genealogy, a tutorial on how the Greensboro Public Library’s resources can help you learn more about your ancestors
• 2:45 p.m. – The Juneteenth Experience with The Poetry Café, a celebration of freedom featuring poetry, music and more from The Poetry Project
• 3:05 p.m. – Juneteenth Art and Music Exploration
• 3:30 p.m. – Juneteenth: Redefining Success
• 4:05 p.m. – Juneteenth Bingo
• 5:10 p.m. – A Look at Melanin, exploring the science of skin pigment
• 5:30 p.m. – Engage with Fellow Book Lovers in Your Community
• 5:55 p.m. – Juneteenth: The Beginning, an original dramatic production by Scrapmettle Entertainment
• 6:30 p.m. – A Day in the Life – Black Cowboys
• 6:50 p.m. – Exclusion by Design: From Redlining to Gentrification