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Juneteenth Committee of Wilmington kicks off over two weeks of events on Thursday

The Juneteenth flag, commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S., flies in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, June 17, 2020.
Nati Harnik/Associated Press
/
AP
The Juneteenth flag, commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S., flies in Omaha, Neb., Wednesday, June 17, 2020.

Tomorrow, the Juneteenth Committee of Wilmington kicks off several weeks of events to celebrate the newest federal holiday in the United States — recognizing the date that news of the emancipation proclamation reached the last enslaved people in the country in 1865.

Abdul Rahman Shareef co-founded the Juneteenth Committee of Wilmington in 1995. Now going into its 30th year, the committee is starting the celebration with what they’re calling an urban hike scheduled for Thursday.

“[It's] kind of like a Black history hike through the African American community, centered around the MLK center, Williston, etc, covering areas like where the [Alex] Manly press [The Daily Record] was," Shareef said.

There are plenty more events to follow through the rest of the month, including a step show, a festival at Maides Park, a performance by poets from Speak YA Peace on Saturday, plus film screenings, teach-ins, and a pageant.

“So we really we have a motto which is educating, emancipating, empowering, energizing our community through celebration of our history," Shareef said.

"We know out of that dynamic post-reconstruction [period], a lot of universities were established by former slaves. You know, a lot of churches were built, religious institutions — and out of the things that they had, skills they had that they perfected on the plantation, they established businesses, you know, set up communities, etc, and life goes on. Here we are today, you know, hoping the best is yet to come," Shareef said.

Juneteenth began the latest federal holiday in 2020, the first new U.S. holiday since Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King, Jr. Day into law in 1983. Juneteenth commemorates the day the U.S. Army delivered the news of freedom to the last enslaved people in Texas, two and half years after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Last year, Wilmington made Juneteenth an official city holiday, but Shareef and his fellow committee members have been working to grow the celebration for a long time — since 1995, when the first event's Grand Marshal was Major General Joseph McNeil, for whom parts of Third Street in downtown Wilmington is now named.

Here's a list of events this month:

With the exception of the Juneteenth breakfast on the 19th (which is $35 for adults, $15 for children), all of the committee’s events free and open to all.

For more information, you can check out the Juneteenth Committee of Wilmington's Facebook page, call 010-612-0983, or visit in person at 721 Castle Street Wilmington.

Links:

Ben Schachtman is a journalist and editor with a focus on local government accountability. He began reporting for Port City Daily in the Wilmington area in 2016 and took over as managing editor there in 2018. He’s a graduate of Rutgers College and later received his MA from NYU and his PhD from SUNY-Stony Brook, both in English Literature.