The first annual Juneteenth RI celebration will take place on Sunday, June 23, 12 – 6pm, at the Temple to Music in Roger Williams Park, PVD. Musical performers announced include gospel artist Gerald E. Perkins, jazz saxophonist Mike Rollins, singer Chops Turner, and hip-hop artist Ed O.G. Vendors will be available.
As the Confederacy collapsed, rebel slaveholders moved farther west and, by the end of the American Civil War, 250,000 slaves were in Texas out of the four million in the country at its start. The war sputtered to conclusion: Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered in Virginia on April 9, 1865, but news traveled slowly and it was not until June 18 that Union forces arrived in Galveston. The next day, Gen. Gordon Granger as military governor publicly read out his order: “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 rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves…” That day, June 19, became known as “Juneteenth” and, more than a century later, has become officially recognized as a celebratory holiday in 45 states, symbolizing the abolition of slavery throughout the entire nation.
For more information, go to Facebook: fb.com/JuneteenthRI ; event: fb.com/events/1529584970510885
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