This year’s event will feature a parade, an all-day festival with cultural exhibits, family appropriate poetry and musical performances, art displays, and a wealth of food, cultural and art vendors.

The parade begins at 9 a.m. at Fuller Park (Manual High School) and goes west along 29th across Downing to Welton Street. The Festival will be held along Welton from 24th Street to 29th Street. 

Headlining the musical stage is the Mary Louise Lee Band, Denver’s own celebrated and multi-faceted jazz band. There will be a full line-up of performers including contemporary jazz and R&B artists and positive hip-hop performers. Youth attending the Festival can participate in a special Kids Zone, an interactive, educational children’s area where games and exercises teach them about their cultural heritage. 

Colorado joins some 40 states in America that hold annual Juneteenth celebrations. Leslie Juniel—one of the primary organizers for Denver’s 2009 Juneteenth event—says, “Denver has traditionally held one of the largest gatherings in the country. We expect thousands to participate in this year’s event.”

The history of Juneteenth celebrations begins in Galveston, Texas, on a sunny afternoon some two years after Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.  While Galveston claims it was the first to hold an official Juneteenth celebration, in Wilmar, Arkansas, on-line sources state that a “June Dinner” took place in 1870 and continued to be held every year honoring June 19 as the day the enslaved Africans were freed.  

Regardless of who was first to celebrate, here lies the reason. After hundreds of years of free labor, lynching and rapes in America which caused the near destruction of African-Americans’ cultural, spiritual and literary history, on June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston with troops sufficient to enforce a law that prohibited the buying, trading or owning of slaves in the United States of America.

Historical documents indicate an initial shock, than an overwhelming jubilant energy in Galveston on that incredible day in 1865. That joy would be short-lived as the individuals who established and maintained slavery in America began to fight back by instituting laws that would prevent recently freed enslaved Africans from taking advantage of their newly granted status. 

Even after slavery was abolished and detailed in Claude Anderson’s best-selling book, “Black Labor, White Wealth,” there was a continued, systemized reenslavement and oppression of African-Americans. While many enslaved Africans were freed under the Emancipation Proclamation, which became effective on January 1, 1863, existing and newly created laws, driven by former slave owners with the intent to maintain control over Africans living in America, would forcibly render those Africans incapable of sustaining their families after slavery.

Laws, historically referred to as the Black Codes, prevented Blacks from buying large amounts of land, from owning companies or employing people. Blacks were also prohibited from running for public office, congregating in large numbers, living in certain jurisdictions or buying large amounts of food, seeds or supplies. Many Blacks were evicted by former slave owners from the land and homes where they had spent their entire lives. Homelessness, poverty and the inability to support their families would force many Africans to return to the plantation to survive.

A small group of African-Americans banded together to work toward repealing the laws that held their emancipation captive. Those who didn’t have the will to fight surrendered and returned to work for mere pennies on their former slave owners plantations. But the seeds of real freedom had been planted and those seeds would eventually birth a new existence for Black Americans.

In Denver, the tradition of Juneteenth has continued for 44 years.  Despite challenges with funding and political opposition throughout the years, the event has remained an important cultural observation in the Mile High City. 

Denver’s Juneteenth celebration was not held for the first time in 2005 due to funding but Elbra Wedgeworth, former councilwoman in Denver, joined with Grace Stiles of the African-American Heritage Center, who organized a smaller scaled event. 

Juniel, the 2009 coordinator, talks about the joys and struggles of organizing Juneteenth.

“It’s been hard but we’re still here.  It’s important to note that at one point, Denver’s Juneteenth attracted thousands of participants. It takes money, it takes volunteer work and it takes commitment to make an event of this magnitude happen. I was honored when former Denver Mayor, Wellington Webb, called and asked me to help coordinate the 2008 event. All I could do was say yes, I’ll do it.

“Our goal is and always has been to have a positive, violence-free event where families can come together and enjoy our culture and history,” adds Juniel.

Event sponsors list is growing and include the Denver Black Chamber of Commerce. “We’ll also work with organizational and community partners like the Black Student Alliance at Metro College of Denver, and the Denver Police Department.  They’ve always been very helpful.”

Juniel reflects on her own experiences attending Juneteenth celebrations.

“When I was growing up, we always went to Juneteenth.  I wanted my kids and other families today to have the opportunity to experience that same richness and pride in their heritage that I did. Our committee took from the culture that our new president is establishing when we selected a theme for this year’s event,  which is, ‘our time is now.’

“What we are trying to say is that we must come together as a community to make this event and our world a success. Our ancestors were willing to be the catalyst for the change that took place on June 19, 1865.  This is an opportunity for us to come together as a community to say thank you for our ancestor’s sacrifices,” adds Juniel. .

Editor’s note: Sponsors, parade participants and vendors are still available for this year’s Juneteenth celebration. For more information, visit the 2009 Juneteenth Festival Web site at www.denverjuneteenth.com