JUNETEENTH: Creating Legacy in Contested Places
We will examine the artful negotiations of formerly enslaved African Americans and celebrate the persistent pursuit of freedom.
Join us as we examine the artful negotiations of African Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War and news of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation finally reaching enslaved people in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. The date is historically known as Juneteenth, celebrating emancipation and a new dawn for African Americans.
The program will include music from Rootstock Republic, premiering a new arrangement of “Strange Fruit” made famous by Billie Holiday, an engaging dialogue with Chef and Historian Therese Nelson, Dr. Andrea Roberts, founder of Texas Freedom Colonies Project and two descendants of Texas’s Freedom Colonies, and a celebration of Juneteenth through food with Chef and TV personality Carla Hall, author of Carla’s Comfort Food: Favorite Dishes from Around the World.
This event is presented in partnership by The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and LIVE from NYPL.