Juneteenth (short for June 19th) is a day to celebrate the effective end of slavery in the United States. It marks the day in 1865 that federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, attempting to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people would be freed. This stand came a full two and a half years after signing the Emancipation Proclamation. June 19th is a day to honor the end to slavery in the United States, it is considered the longest-running African American holiday. It officially became a federal holiday in 2021 on June 17th.  

There are a great number of ways to celebrate Juneteenth! 

• Search for events in your area! 

Here in Clarksville we have a few fun events happening during the month of June. The first event of the month takes place during the weekend of the 7th through the 10th of June; a Freedom paint and Sip at Keondra’ restaurant, it is a pre-Juneteenth celebration. On June 18th we have  ‘Clarksville Juneteenth Block Party’ taking place in Downtown commons, as well as a ‘Clarksville Juneteenth Festival’ taking place at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center. On the 19th there is a ‘BLK Xcellence Brunch’ also taking place at the Wilma Rudolph Event Center. You can check out the full information for these events here Juneteenth Events in Clarksville 2022.

If you are not located in Clarksville, feel free to search your area for events and celebrations taking place if that is how you are choosing to celebrate this holiday.

Another fun thing to look out for- some museums dedicate an exhibit to Black culture to spread awareness and information during the month of June. Look into museums near you to see if an exhibit is happening near you!

• Learn the History 

This is a newly recognized and celebrated Holiday. The information about it is not widely known, choose to not be ignorant and take some time to learn for this holiday! The information is all online from multiple sources, here are a few credible sources that had something to say about the Holiday, The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth  and What is Juneteenth ?  . And don’t forget to spread the knowledge! 

• Support! 

Take time to support a black-owned business. There are plenty listed in Clarksville, take your pick! Here is a quick list of some of the black-owned businesses located here in Tennessee Black Owned Businesses, Clarksville TN. If you are outside of the Clarksville area and do not have any located near you, there are tons of online stores that are black-owned, here’s some examples Black Owned Online Businesses and Black owned Businesses to Support Online. 

• Donate! 

If you were not able to find a product that you liked from a black-owned business, you could always donate instead! You could donate to these black owned businesses or even better, there are organizations that support Black Communities (The American Civil Liberties Union, the Audre Lorde Project, Black Technology, ColorComm, the Bail Project and the Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund are a few to consider) Find an organization that you are passionate about or resonate with and give a little this holiday! 

• Home celebration

Some that are not the biggest fans of crowds choose to celebrate this holiday at home. You can do this by simply by hosting a barbeque and you could even try respectfully cooking traditional foods. If cooking isn’t up your alley either, listening to Black artists, reading a book written by a Black author or poet, or even watching a movie produced by a Black artist can be considered a way of celebration of the holiday. 

Remember overall to be respectful of the Holiday if this is not your culture some ways of “celebration” may come off offensive rather than courteous( essentially be wary of cultural appropriation). Celebrate and have fun on this newly recognized federal holiday! If these ways of celebration are not appealing to you here is a list of more! Juneteenth Celebration Ideas