LA City Councilmember Curren Price today introduced a motion that would move to establish Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States dating back to June 19, 1865, as a legal City holiday.
The inter-denominational event, which was held on June 18, attracted scores of people to participate on the lawn of Inglewood City Hall.
Compton Mayor Aja Brown, Originals Nation and Trap Heals founder Damon Turner all partnered together to host “ByeCOVID,” a local initiative event where they provided free COVID-19 testing to Compton residents along with care packages to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The event serviced over 1,000 people who registered or pre-registered. It was great vibes of live music, food, art, and a group of ambitious volunteers to serve the community. There couldn’t have been a more innovative way to host this event.
The state of California started recognizing Juneteenth or Black “Freedom Day,” marking the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, back in 2003 as an official state observance. That was 17 years before Juneteenth became a household word across the United States this year.
Compton Mayor Aja Brown, Originals Nation and Trap Heels founder Damon Turner all partnered together to host “ByeCOVID,” a local initiative event where they provided free COVID-19 testing to Compton residents along with care packages to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The event serviced over 1,000 people who registered or pre-registered. It was great vibes of live music, food, art, and a group of ambitious volunteers to serve the community. There couldn’t have been a more innovative way to host this event.
Proceeds from the song will benefit Black-owned small businesses
Farm Box Grab and Go Food Program distributed more than 3,000 boxes to residents in Compton. This was an eight-week partnership between First Five L.A., Best Start, Community Health Councils (CHC), and SEE-LA (Sustainable Economic Enterprise.)
“Juneteenth is Freedom Day and a cause for celebration,” said Assemblymember Shirley N. Weber, Ph.D., Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. “What is encouraging is the renewed interest in Juneteenth by young people.
Los Angeles County Officials continue to emphasize the importance of taking precautionary steps towards opening the economy. As of June 18, Nail salons, spas, tattoo shops, casinos, bars, and wineries are now approved to reopen. The threat of coronavirus is still present, L.A. County officials look for the safest ways to gain economic recovery.
Juneteenth is observed, commemorating the day Africans in Texas heard of the end of legal enslavement in the U.S., June 19, 1865.
June 19, celebrated as “Juneteenth,” a special moment in American history, our nation’s second Independence Day. A day that established a progressive step for human rights, and commemorates the end of slavery in all 50 states.
The celebration of freedom is to be encouraged and applauded everywhere and all the time, and the celebration of Juneteenth, June 19th as Emancipation Day, is, of necessity, no exception. For freedom is so essential to our lives, our concepts of ourselves and our understanding of what it means to live and flourish as human beings. In this context, Min. Malcolm X makes freedom the most essential value in his ethical insistence on freedom, justice and equality as non-negotiable needs and rights of the human person. Thus, he states that “freedom is essential to life itself” and equally, “freedom is essential to the development of the human being.” Moreover, he says, “if we don’t have freedom we can never expect justice and equality.” For “only after we have freedom, does justice and equality become a reality.”
In theaters and on Digital and On-Demand on June 19, 2020.
“On June 19, 1865, more than six months after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and declared that all slaves of African descent located in Texas were indeed free. That historic day, now remembered as Juneteenth, marked the end of one of the saddest chapters in our nation’s history. More than 150 years later, Juneteenth causes us to not only reflect on the tragic, centuries-long enslavement of nearly four million Africans and their descendants in the United States, but to remain vigilant in the fight to overcome racism, both institutional and societal, that exists in our country today. The Juneteenth observance serves as reminder that our nation still has work to do to overcome the great challenges that communities of color and so many others face in the pursuit for equality and justice.”