By Alex Stanton, Policy Director/Communication Coordinator for Vice Mayor Kearney
The Office of Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney invited community members to come and celebrate Juneteenth at City Hall on Friday June 13. The event held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., included food, folks and fun. Attendees were able to learn the newest line dances and partake in the delicious Juneteenth Food Selections by the Banging Grille for purchase. At noon, the official “Juneteenth” program began with buzzworthy speakers, such as Lydia Morgan, Mayor Aftab Pureval, City Manager Sheryl Long, David Whitehead and many others.
Juneteenth, which was designated as a National Holiday by President Biden, falls on Thursday, June 19, this year.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday’s name, first used in the 1890s, refer to June 19, 1865, the day when Major General Gordon Granger ordered the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas at the end of the American Civil War. In the Civil War period, slavery came to an end in various areas of the United States at different times.
The City Hall program included a welcome by City Council President Pro Tem Victoria Parks; with Emcee Sister Keli, Inspiration; Libations by Queen Mother Dinah Yisrael and the Cincinnati Kwanzaa Committee; song by Darryl Jones, “Lift Ev’ry Voice & Sing;” Prayer by Dean Owen Thompson, Christ Church Cathedral; Remarks by Aftab Pureval, Cincinnati Mayor, and Sheryl Long, Cincinnati City Manager; Story of Juneteenth, by Lydia Morgan, Cincinnati’s Queen of Juneteenth; Keynote Speech by David Whitehead, President of Cincinnati NAACP; Juneteenth Reflections by Toilynn O’Neal Turner, ROMAC; Closing Remarks by Councilmember Scotty Johnson; Song by Lisa Craig & Friends; and an Honorary Ceremony recognizing Buffalo Soldier Reggie Murray.
