The 55th annual Juneteenth celebration began early this year when Tucsonans gathered at the Kino Sports Complex on the 14th for a festival. Live performances mixed with vendors, food trucks and a “kids zone,” the reception to the festival was strong enough that the Tucson Juneteenth Festival Committee were elated with the outcome.
“It was attended by over 5,000 people,” Larry Starks, president of the committee, said. “The governor of Arizona was there.”
Of course, it might seem unusual to celebrate Juneteenth on any day other than the 19th of June. However, Starks made it clear that the festival won’t be the only celebration this month.
On the 19th, there will be a gathering at The Drawing Studio Inc. to celebrate the art of never before seen Pan-African artists. It will not just be an art gallery. “We will have some art classes,” Starks said. Entrance will be free.
Later, on the 21st, “How I Got Over” will be a live music event hosted by Catalyst Creative Collective in the Tucson Mall. It will be a retrospective experience focused on how music helped Black Americans through the worst of times. Tickets can be found here.
The committee has already hosted five events, including the festival on the 14th. Despite only two more events this month, there are still plenty of opportunities to celebrate Juneteenth in Tucson.
According to Starks, the message of Juneteenth is underrepresented when it is siloed to a single day of the year; thus, he expects to put on more events later in the summer and fall.
“What this represents is … bringing people together with the understanding that we’re better with each other than without each other,” said Starks.
History
The Juneteenth festival committee formed in the 1970’s, according to Starks. By then, many informal and formal celebrations were already being held annually in Arizona, from local community and church gatherings to small family barbecues.
The celebration of Juneteenth has more direct association with the celebrations held on June 19, 1865. According to history, the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863. However, it wasn’t until 1865 that the last holdouts of slave owners were forced to relinquish.
Texas was the last holdout, as slaveholders amassed 250,000 slaves on an island in Galveston Bay. An attempt of the slaveholders to remain in control. Once the U.S. army arrived, that control ended and the last black slaves were finally free.
“We focus all year round to educate people,” Starks said. “Because, when they left and came back [free], they didn’t start a war. They didn’t start fights. They didn’t do any of those things. They came back to celebrate their freedom.”
