Empire State University Black Male Initiative to Host Juneteenth Celebration

​​​​​​​(MANHATTAN, NY - June 9, 2023)The Empire State University Black Male Initiative will host a Juneteenth celebration at 4 Park Avenue, Manhattan on Saturday, June 17 at noon. SUNY Empire Professor Emeritus Joseph Washington will discuss the importance of Juneteenth and its place in American history. After the talk, award-winning jazz artist Camille Thurman and the Darrell Green Quartet will perform.

Register here.

The lineup will include the following 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.