Join the Houston community next month for a Juneteenth Celebration at Emancipation Park.
Happening Saturday, June 1, 2024, from 1-7 p.m., the Celebrate Freedom Festival brings together seven historic Black communities in Houston (Independence Heights, Fourth Ward, Third Ward, Fifth Ward, Sunnyside, Acres Homes and South Park) to celebrate the richness of our culture, pay homage to the pioneers of Juneteenth and experience jubilee in a way that is uniquely our own.
Come prepared to eat, drink, fellowship and experience a wide array of events and activities culminating in an opening ceremony to kick off Juneteenth Celebrations in Houston!
For more information, visit www.juneteenthhouston.org or email juneteenthhouston@gmail.com.
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19, marks when about 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, in 1865 to announce that the more than 250,000 enslaved Black people in the state were free by executive decree. Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived on the island and went to the Ashton Villa to issue General Order No. 3, which, according to National Archives, states:
“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”
