The Revolt1811 Museum and Galleries will host a Juneteenth celebration on Sunday, June 22 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 105 West 5th Street in LaPlace.
The museum will offer free tours and will celebrate the holiday with music by the Human Jukebox and Tyren Davis. Food vendors will also be on site.
The celebration is free and open to the public.
Derron Cook, curator and director of the museum, said Juneteenth is not just a Black holiday, but a holiday for all people to celebrate freedom and engage in conversations about freedom and justice for all.
“We want people to engage in the process of freedom,” Cook said. “The process of freedom means being able to continue voting rights, continue to fight for the rights of all people. We want to make sure that people are aware of the issues that are going on and those issues that help us maintain our freedom here in America.”
Lewis Logan, a St. Charles Parish resident who is involved in the Juneteenth event, said he looks forward to gathering once again with friends, neighbors and fellow citizens to celebrate the holiday.
“We are proud to extend a hand of friendship across parish lines, joining with our neighboring communities to strengthen the bond of the River Parishes,” he said. “This gesture reflects the spirit of Juneteenth – of bridging divides and working together to build something better.”
This year is the 160th anniversary of the Juneteenth Independence Day, which marked the effective end of slavery in the United States.
On June 19, 1865, Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and issued General Order No. 3, which stated that “all salves are free.” Although the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, ended slavery in the country, slaves in Confederate states were not aware of the order because of delayed or suppressed information.
Logan noted that the Freedmen’s Bureau, led by Maj. Gen. Oliver Otis Howard, offered support for newly freed individuals.
“That moment in history symbolized an important step toward realizing a ‘more perfect Union,’ as freedmen began building stronger families and communities,” Logan said. “This commemorates a time when the nation’s actions began to align more closely with its founding principles.”
Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.
Logan and other parish residents accepted the parish council’s Juneteenth Proclamation on June 3.
“Accepting the proclamation reminds me – and I hope it reminds others – of the enduring power and promise of the United State Constitution,” Logan said. “It reflects the evolving relationship between citizens and their government, a relationship that continues to strive toward justice, unity, and liberty for all.”
For many years, St. Charles Parish residents organized Juneteenth celebrations at Bethune Park and West Bank Bridge Park.
Kajuan Smith, co-owner of Wolly’s Burgers and a tech 1 for the St. Charles Parish Wastewater Department, said several sponsors helped organized those events, including nDurance Fitness, Cornerstone and Dynasty Men’s Grooming.
Smith said he hopes to one day bring the celebration back to the parish.
