Juneteenth

"Tell me what happened while there's still time," demands the dying Senator Adam Sunraider to the itinerate Negro preacher whom he calls Daddy Hickman. As a young man, Sunraider was Bliss, an orphan taken in by Hickman and raised to be a preacher like himself. Bliss's history encompasses the joys of young southern boyhood; bucolic days as a filmmaker, lovemaking in a field in the Oklahoma sun. And behind it all lies a mystery: how did this chosen child become the man who would deny everything to achieve his goals?

Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth provides a historian’s view of the country’s long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond.

On June 19, 1865, the last enslaved African Americans were finally freed in Galveston, Texas. Every year, our community comes together to honor this special day. We play hopscotch, eat spice cake, and listen to music, but what about the first Juneteenth? As family and friends recount their memories and stories of Juneteenths past, a young girl learns about the holiday's longstanding history and traditions.

Celebrants of the first Independence Day took little time to ponder the status of equality between the races. Primarily, their attention was taken up with the overthrow of a foreign colonial power, one not accomplished through the will of an overwhelming majority. The bold move shaped by colonial legislators and promoted to the colonies by the founding fathers represented a first-of-its kind emancipation, as no European colony had so completely faced down its mother country in a test of wills.

In 1919, Kathryn Wombacher finds a lonely-hearts ad placed by one Walter Andrew: "Would be pleased to correspond with a refined young lady or widow. Object, matrimony.” Kathryn and Walter fall in love and marry within weeks. What Kathryn doesn’t know...is that her new husband is really James “Bluebeard” Watson, a notorious West Coast serial killer who catfished and married 22 women, murdering 10.

On June 19, 1865, a group of enslaved men, women, and children in Texas gathered around a Union solder and listened as he read the most remarkable words they would ever hear. They were no longer enslaved: they were free. The inhumane practice of forced labor with no pay was now illegal in all of the United States. This news was cause for celebration, so the group of people jumped in excitement, danced, and wept tears of joy. They did not know it at the time, but their joyous celebration of freedom would become a holiday—Juneteenth.

Lila was sitting on the couch when she saw a bright flyer on the table. It said, “Juneteenth Celebration: Music, Food, and Fun!” She picked it up and ran to her grandma in the kitchen. “Grandma, what is Juneteenth?” she asked. Grandma turned with a big smile. “Juneteenth is a very happy day! It’s the day when the news of freedom finally reached people who were not free in Texas. That happened a long time ago, in 1865.”

June 19th, 1865, began as another hot day in Texas. Enslaved African Americans worked in fields, in barns, and in the homes of the white people who owned them. Then a message arrived. Freedom! Slavery had ended! The Civil War had actually ended in April. It took two months for word to reach Texas. Still the joy of that amazing day has never been forgotten. Every year, people all over the United States come together on June 19th to celebrate the end of slavery. Join in the celebration of Juneteenth, a day to remember and honor freedom for all people.

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. Across the country, people observe the day with speeches, poetry readings, festivals, picnics, street fairs, and family reunions. It is a day for people to come together and continue working toward equality.

Mazie is ready to celebrate liberty. She is ready to celebrate freedom. She is ready to celebrate a great day in American history: the day her ancestors were no longer slaves. Mazie remembers the struggles and the triumph as she gets ready to celebrate Juneteenth.

After opening a cultural community center in the heart of Chicago, Porter Crowne is determined to make The Blackout Fest the best Juneteenth celebration yet. Especially when chosen as Mr. Black Chicago. Partnering with influential members of the community will ensure its success. However, if you aren't following the plan, you're in his way just like the curvy, feisty vlogger who argues with every suggestion he has.

These extensive and revealing letters span the life of Ralph Ellison and provide a remarkable window into the great writer’s life and work, his friendships, rivalries, anxieties, and all the questions about identity, art, and the American soul that bedeviled and inspired him until his death. They include early notes to his mother, written as an impoverished college student; lively exchanges with the most distinguished American writers and thinkers of his time, from Romare Bearden to Saul Bellow; and letters to friends and family from his hometown of Oklahoma City.

"Juneteenth Jubilee" is a poignant and celebratory exploration of Juneteenth, a significant date in American history that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. This book offers a vibrant tapestry of stories, historical accounts, reflections, and cultural insights, all centered around the theme of liberation and the enduring spirit of African Americans. Overview: Historical Context: The book begins with an in-depth look at the historical background of Juneteenth, detailing the events leading up to June 19, 1865. It explains the significance of General Gordon Granger's ...

Cameo Rawlings, the sexy new CEO of Palmer Innovations is determined to represent the city and The Mr. Black Organization with class. With his not-so-pristine past, it was imperative that he succeed in raising awareness of the rich Black culture of the city. He was going to need a polished look and a professional event planner to make the Juneteenth celebration a success. He knows who he needs, but . . . the last encounter with the woman was less than pleasant.

On June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, a group of enslaved men, women, and children in Texas gathered. Order Number 3 was read, proclaiming that they were no longer enslaved—they were free. People danced, wept tears of joy, and began to plan their new lives. Juneteenth became an annual celebration that is observed by more and more Americans with parades, picnics, family gatherings, and reflection on the words of historical figures, to mark the day when freedom truly rang for all.

Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award‑winning novelist, who, to everyone's surprise, shows up in New York. When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their buried traumas, but the eyebrows of the Black literati. What no one knows is that 15 years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love.

Ralph Elllison's Invisible Man is a monumental novel, one that can well be called an epic of modern American Negro life. It is a strange story, in which many extraordinary things happen, some of them shocking and brutal, some of them pitiful and touching—yet always with elements of comedy and irony and burlesque that appear in unexpected places. It is a book that has a great deal to say and which is destined to have a great deal said about it.

Juneteenth: May It Be a Global Celebration of Liberation Although the United States Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, the news didn’t reach Texas until June 19. On that day, more than two months after their enslavement ended, Union Army general Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom to the enslaved. Today we celebrate that we have this same proclamation to speak over those not yet free. We have the best proclamation of all! As Paul said in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” But ...

Tracey Copeland had been looking for something or someone to break up the monotony of her life and when that didn't happen, she begins to feel like she was losing at the game of life. In one of her most impulsive moves to date, she changes her life for what seems like the worse. But fate intervenes and brings her into the path of a man so big, he shakes her life up, and all she can do is hope to land on her feet. Fearful of the consequences, she has to decide what to do next: run once again or stick to her guns and see what hand life deals her.

For as long as she can remember, June Bug and her father have traveled the back roads of the country in their beat-up RV, spending many nights parked at Walmart. One morning, as she walks past the greeter at the front of the store, her eyes are drawn to the pictures of missing children, where she is shocked to see herself. This discovery begins a quest for the truth about her father, the mother he rarely speaks about, and ultimately herself.