Juneteenth: Here are several ways to celebrate Black freedom in the greater Houston area

Although Juneteenth is commemorated annually on June 19, the celebration of Black freedom extends far beyond one day in the Houston-Galveston area. It’s really a month of celebrations across the region.

Juneteenth marks the emancipation of the last 250,000 enslaved Black Americans in Galveston on June 19, 1865, after the U.S. Civil War. The news of freedom issued by Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger under General Order No. 3, came more than two years after then-President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which officially declared the end of slavery in the Confederate states on Jan. 1, 1863.

While many locally have celebrated the end of slavery for decades, Juneteenth became an official federal holiday June 17, 2021, under a bill signed by President Joe Biden.

Whether you’re a newcomer or habitual celebrator, the greater Houston area offers something for everyone, from history tours, to parades, festivals and poetry. Here’s a roundup of events through the greater Houston area, the birthplace of Juneteenth: Galveston Island, Katy, Baytown and more.

Wednesday, June 12

• The Houston Museum of African American Culture is hosting a free screening of “Black is… Black Ain’t,” a Marlon Riggs documentary that explores the Black experience and often contested definitions of Blackness. The screening is at 7:30 p.m. at HMAAC, 4807 Caroline St.

Thursday, June 13

• Houston Freedmen’s Town Conservancy will host its inaugural event at its newly opened Visitor Center , a “porch talk” panel titled: “Uncovering the Genius of a Master Strategist.” This panel highlights the journey and work of Freedmen’s Town’s native Emmet J. Scott. Panelists include Sherwin K. Bryant, an associate professor, History & Director, Center for African and African American Studies at Rice University, and Will Guzman, the assistant vice chancellor of international programs and community engagement, academic affairs at North Carolina University. The event is from 6 to 8 p.m. at 1204 Victor St. It is free, but registration is required .
• Support more than 30 local vendors and the Black literary arts while enjoying food and hearing music from a DJ at a Juneteenth Liberation Market hosted by the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and Black woman-owned popup bookstore, SOA Co. Books. The event is from 6 to 9 p.m. and is free to attend at POST Houston, 401 Franklin St.
  Also, Houston Landing will be at the event. Make sure to come by and visit us.

Friday, June 14

• Houston First Corporation presents a three-day Juneteenth Culture Festival and celebration of freedom beginning Friday and Saturday, June 14-15, at 8:15 p.m. at Miller Outdoor Theatre with a production of “Juneteenth: A Musical Journey Through Eras” from the 1960’s through the 2000’s, which spotlights injustice and the Black community’s resilience through music. The celebration continues Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m. at Avenida Houston and Discovery Green with live music, entertainment, art, food trucks, BLCK Market vendors, games, and concludes with a fireworks show.

Saturday, June 15

• The Emancipation Park Conservancy will host its annual Juneteenth Music Celebration beginning with its second-annual freedom walk/run at Emancipation Park, 3018 Emancipation Ave., at 7 a.m. The free concert starts at 4 p.m. with the Juneteenth Community Gospel Choir, followed by Southern Soul artist Roi Anderson, and closes with Zydeco from Lil Nathan and the BigTimers. The celebration will also showcase a variety of vendors and various food trucks.
• The Black Heritage Society will host its 16th annual Acres Homes Juneteenth parade beginning at 10 a.m. until noon at the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center, 6719 West Montgomery Road and ending at the Greater Zion Missionary Church, 1620 Dolly Wright St.
• Lone Star College Houston North, in collaboration with the Black Heritage Society, is hosting a Juneteenth celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m . at 4141 Victory Drive, with food from Burns BBQ and Kona Ice, as well as live music performed by a Zydeco band. The free event is family-friendly and will have face painting, games, a slide, and volleyball.
• The Black Heritage Society will also host a Juneteenth Jubilee Festival to collectively observe World Sickle Cell Day and connect attendees with solutions to the sickle cell disease. The event is free and will also feature vendors and food trucks from from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Fifth Ward Multi-Service Center, 4014 Market Street.
• Lake Houston will celebrate its 15th annual Juneteenth celebration at Generation Park inside Redemption Square with a market and food trucks.The celebration will also have resources and networking for small businesses through East Harris County Empowerment Council and local art presented by Harris County Cultural Arts Council. A portion of the proceeds raised will go to the Sheldon ISD Education Foundation. The event is from 4 to 8 p.m. at Redemption Square, Assay Street. RSVP here .
• The Houston Collective presents its fourth annual Juneteenth Ride sponsored by Justice League Cycling, Motherland Cycling, Major Taylor Houston, the Street Ridaz, Trek, and the Freedmen’s Town Bike Tour. The community ride departs at 6:30 a.m. from Trek-Weslayan, 5339 Weslayan St., and features two routes across three different pace groups. This will be a social ride around Houston and will travel to several Houston historical sites, including Booker T. Washington High School, George Floyd Memorial, Emancipation Park, and Texas Southern University. Rest stops occur every 12 miles at Booker T. Washington High School and Emancipation Park.
• The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park will host a Juneteenth celebration from 9:30 a.m. until noon beginning with a Juneteenth Freedmen’s Town Bike Riders ride by the Yates House, followed by a teacake reception with red velvet coffee, and a reading of General Order No. 3 by historian and poet Don Williams. The celebration continues with Martha Whiting-Goddard, the great granddaughter of Rev. Jack Yates, sharing family history and what it was like growing up in the Yates House, followed by a performance from the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, Harold Cash reminisces his experience as a Black cowboy, and Larry Callies shares his inspiration behind the Black Cowboy Museum . The celebration takes place at The Heritage Society Museum Gallery, 1100 Bagby St.
  
  The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park will also host Juneteenth tea cakes and tours every Saturday leading up to Juneteenth and on June 19. Tours include three UNESCO-designated historic houses that are sites of memory in the Fourth Ward that tell the stories of slavery to freedom. Tours include a teacake from Lucy Pearl’s Bakery and iced red punch. Reservations are required .
  
  The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park is also offering a Visit Houston signature experience tour “From Plantation to Emancipation” with reenactments by actress Khi Stephens where attendees can experience the differences of enslavement and freedom through song, historical accounts, and family portrayals. These 90-minute tours are offered on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, from 12:30 to 2 p.m., for $25 . Free parking is available at 212 Dallas St.
• Attendees can celebrate the birthplace of Juneteenth with food vendors and music at Galveston’s Juneteenth festival and celebration from noon until 8 p.m. at the McGuire Dent Recreational Center, or commonly known as Menard Park, on the Seawall, 2222 28th St.
• Attendees can also attend the annual historic Juneteenth parade followed by a picnic at Wright Cuney Park , 718 41st St. The parade starts at 1 p.m. at 26th and Avenue H and ends at 41st and Avenue H, and the picnic will immediately follow from 2 to 5 p.m.
• If you’re interested in learning more about the history of Juneteenth, you can hear Roy Collins III , son of former teacher, musician, and author of “ Island of Color: Where Juneteenth Started ” Izola Ethel Fedford Collins, speak about the history of Juneteenth as it relates to Galveston and how it has been observed and celebrated over the years up to the present day. The presentation will be accompanied by a display of Juneteenth-related items from the Galveston and Texas History Center. Admission is free but registration is required . The event is from 11 a.m. to noon at the Rosenberg Library, fourth floor Fox Room,  2310 Sealy St., Galveston.
• Galveston will host its fourth annual B.L.V.D. Juneteenth Sidewalk Poetry show from 8 to 10:30 p.m. at The Proletarian Gallery and Public House, 2221 Market St. Admission is free. Click here for more information.
• The City of Baytown and the Juneteenth Committee will host its annual Juneteenth Celebration featuring live music, shopping vendors, food vendors, games and activities, and musical performances by B Nycole, Kam Franklin, and Mya followed by a firework display at the end. The event is free and takes place from 5 to 11 p.m. at the Bicentennial Park, 1001 Market St.
• Houston’s historic Sunnyside neighborhood will host a free, family-friendly cultural celebration at Sunnyside Health and Multi-Service Center , 4410 Reed Road, from noon to 7 p.m. Attendees can enjoy music, local cuisine and a diverse lineup of music from traditional jazz to contemporary Black music.
• Melanin Moms of Pearland, Visionary Outreach, and the City of Pearland are collaborating to host a Juneteenth Freedom Celebration event for the second year with a kid zone, vendors, food, live music and special guests, including Houston rapper Bun B. The event is from 6 to 10 p.m. at Independence Park, 3449 Pearland Parkway.

Sunday, June 16

• Enjoy Juneteenth: The Galveston Story screening , a documentary film featuring stories about Juneteenth told by prominent Galveston County community members and family members of the people who were there in 1865. Learn some of the stories before, on, and after June 19, 1865. The event takes place at the Moody Gardens 3D Theater, One Hope Blvd. Galveston, from 12:30 p.m. The film screening is free, but there is a $4 per-ticket convenience charge and $6 on the day of show. For more information visit moodygardens.com .

Tuesday, June 18

• New this year, the Emancipation Park Conservancy will also host a Juneteenth “Health is Wealth” panel discussion and health fair featuring leaders from Harris County, Memorial Hermann Hospital System, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Methodist Hospital System, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the City of Houston. The health fair will include health screenings, food and nutrition information, and there will be panel discussions on access to care, maternal health and  mental health. The event is free, but attendees must register . It takes place at 3018 Emancipation Ave., from 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Join Galveston Historical Foundation’s African American Heritage Committee for a presentation of the rarely told stories of the people and places of Galveston’s Black history. The event is from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1859 Ashton Villa, 2328 Broadway Ave. Admission is $10 and virtual tickets are available to stream as well.

Juneteenth, Wednesday, June 19

• The Emancipation Park Conservancy will conclude its Juneteenth celebration with a family fun day with live music, a vendor market, food trucks, and mobile gaming. The event is free and takes place at 3018 Emancipation Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• The Houston Museum of African American Culture presents “Embers of Freedom,” a play written and directed by Makaela Reed that highlights the journey of Juneteenth and the struggles and triumphs that shape the quest for freedom and equality. The play will feature a blend of monologues, music, dance, and spoken word with shows at 2 and 4 p.m. at HMAAC, 4807 Caroline St.
• HMAAC will also host a free open mic night, “The Art of Poetry,” at 7 p.m., 4807 Caroline St.
• The Houston’s Freedmen’s Town Conservancy will host a Juneteenth “elevated kickback experience” at the newly opened Freedmen’s Town Visitor Center at 1204 Victor St., with African cuisine, live music and dance performances,educational activities and “This Way: A Houston Group Show,” an art exhibition featuring work from 10 Houston-based Black artists telling the story of Black legacy and heritage in Houston Freedmen’s Town. The event is free and takes place from 4 to 8 p.m.
• Katy Texas African American Heritage Society will host its second annual Juneteenth Parade and Festival beginning at 11 a.m. at First Baptist Church, located at 600 Pin Oak Road. The celebration continues with a festival beginning at noon until 3 p.m. at Woodsland Park, 443 Danover Road with free food, live music and a kids foam party.
• Local elected officials and family members will be present for the 45th annual Juneteenth proclamation reading at Ashton Villa, 2328 Broadway Galveston from 10 to 11 a.m. to pay homage to former State Rep. Al Edwards.
• Enjoy a Juneteenth Family Fun Day at Galveston’s historic Reedy Chapel AME Church, 2015 Broadway Ave. J, with food, vendors, a live DJ, and activities for kids to enjoy from 1 to 6 p.m. followed by an Emancipation March to conclude the evening from 6 to 8 p.m.

Saturday, June 22

• Local filmmaker and screenwriter, Holly Charles-Pearson, of theater company Houston Play On Purpose presents a screening of “ If They Took Us Back ,” a film inspired by a hypothetical exodus of formerly enslaved people back to Africa following the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. The screening will also include local Black vendors, an art exhibit, a musical performance from Houston artist, Daniel Fears, and a Q&A with the film cast and director. There will be two screenings at 3 and 7 p.m. at the Emancipation Park Conservancy’s Cultural Center, 3018 Emancipation Ave. Tickets start at $35.