Two McHenry County Juneteenth Events this Week

 

The official Juneteenth Federal Holiday marking Major General Gordon Granger's Proclamation on Galveston Island, Texas on June 19, 1865 will be observed this Friday.

Granger's General Order #3 read:

    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.

It was the first word that many of the formerly enslaved people jamming the port got about the Emancipation Proclamation.  The next year the Free men and women celebrated the day of Jubilee which soon became annual celebrations.  In the 20th Century  commemorations spread nationally as representative of all Jubilees.  

President Joe Biden signed the legislation creating the Juneteenth holiday in 2021.  In his second occupation of the White House Donald Trump has tried mightily to erase the commemorations as part of his anti-Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) purge.  Federal agencies will not support, publisize, or even report on the occasion.  It stubbornly remains a Federal Holiday.  

Observations like these two McHenry County Events are more than ever essential acts of Resistance.

        

Honoring Legacy, Empowering the Future presented by McHenry County Now.  Thursday, June 18 at 5:30 pm at the Cary Public Library.  Register here.

              

The McHenry County Juneteenth Festival will be held on Saturday, June 20, from 3 to 5:30 pm on Woodstock Square Woodstock.  

Festival founder Gloria Van Hoff reports that Attendees will also have the pleasure of enjoying Stev Walker and the Artistas Da Capoeira Woodstock, the soulful songs and music of Darlene Benton, soloist, and the The Ken Davis Project. We’ll also hear from Arlene Lynes, proprietor of Read Between the Lynes Bookshop. Sandi Johnson will be the keynote speaker.