The Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society on Saturday held their 34th annual Juneteenth celebration at Idlewild Park in Reno. The event included church services, live music, raffles and cultural awareness information and resources from organizations including Black Wall Street, Nevada Museum of Art and Progressive Leadership Alliance.
The event kicked off at 3 p.m. with the National Anthem and featured speaker Dr. Angela Taylor.
“Juneteenth is something that everyone can celebrate,” Taylor said. “There’s such a diverse group of people out here celebrating and that’s really what it should be all about. We have commonalities that we can celebrate together. Slavery was a horrific part of the history of our country, but coming together after it ended and celebrating that – that’s an amazing part of our history.”
Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society, in addition to hosting the annual Juneteenth celebration, also works in the community to promote an “the understanding of [the Black community’s] traditions and history while empowering the Black community.”
Juneteenth is the commemoration of the freeing of slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865. It took more than two-and-a-half years from the time Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation for Union troops in the Civil War to arrive in Texas to enforce the decree. The last reading took place in Galveston, Texas, which is where the Juneteenth celebration originated.
President Joe Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021.
