Despite new challenges, Juneteenth event organizers are unbowed

Today is Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when U.S. Army troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform some of the last enslaved Americans that they were free.

They were enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Abraham Lincoln had issued more than two years earlier, on Jan. 1, 1863.

Various events were planned across the country and some took the current politically and racially charged climate into account.

In Bend, Ore., planners of the annual Juneteenth festival said they took a different approach this year.

“Cautious. Cautious would probably be a good word,” Kenneth Adams, one of the planners, said of holding this year’s event at a public park.

He and other organizers were concerned about safety.

“Given the nationwide climate, we are heavily about making sure that people are safe,” Adams said.

They canceled the event. Another group revived it, smaller and indoors.

In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice said state employees would no longer get Juneteenth as a paid holiday. That includes Ray Whiting, who has helped plan a Juneteenth parade and festival in Charleston for the past four years.

“I am disappointed in the governor’s decision,” Whiting said.

“So we moved the event to Friday. That way people won’t miss [it]. And all parties can celebrate.”

In Denver, Norman Harris has organized the city’s Juneteenth Music Festival since 2012. This year, it was just one day instead of two.

“We had a number of corporate partners who have been supporting us over the years who either pulled back their support or just were not there this year,” Harris said.

Still, with help from individual donors, he expected it to be “a cultural treasure chest where people are immersed in Black culture and celebrating Black excellence.”

In Nashville, organizers of the “Juneteenth615” festival say it’s their biggest year yet. Willie Sims, known as Big Fella, says skipping the celebration isn’t an option.

“So everybody, what if they cancel Juneteenth? I’m like, you can’t cancel Juneteenth. There’s been communities celebrating this since 1866. Like, when you actually go and say, we’re going to cancel it, I think you’re literally going to bring more of a light to it.”

Click the audio player to hear NPR staff read the text of the Emancipation Proclamation.