EMPIRE STATE UNIVERSITY BLACK MALE INITIATIVE HOSTS JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION

(MANHATTAN, NEW YORK- June 20, 2023)The Empire State University Black Male Initiative held its Juneteenth celebration at 4 Park Avenue, Manhattan on June 17. SUNY Empire Professor Emeritus Joseph Washington discussed the importance of Juneteenth and its place in American history. Following the talk, award-winning jazz artist Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Quartet performed.

The lineup included artists:
Camille Thurman - saxophone/vocals
Wallace Roney Jr - trumpet
Bruce Edwards - guitar
Tom DiCarlo - bass
Darrell Green - drums

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19th,1865 union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the civil war had ended and that all enslaved people were now free. This was two and a half years after President Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order which became official on January first,1863. With the ratification of the 13th amendment by the U.S. Congress in 1865, the abolition of slavery became federal law. We celebrate Juneteenth on the 19th of June, which is the anniversary of General Granger’s arrival, and refer to the date as Freedom Day or African American Independence Day.