The Afro-American Culture Organization will host Columbus” 14th annual Juneteenth celebration this weekend.
“It”s a big family get-together,” said Leroy Brooks, the festival coordinator and Lowndes County District 5 supervisor.
Brooks started the Columbus version of the international celebration in 1996 and said it has grown steadily since then. Last year, there were around 13,000 people in attendance.
“We started it as a way to make people aware of the historical importance of June 19,” he said. “And our other goal is to promote fellowship and camaraderie. It”s overwhelming; people actually start calling in April to get a date for Juneteenth.”
Brooks said Macon had a Juneteenth festival last weekend, and Louisville celebrated the weekend before that, but residents of the two cities still show up at Columbus” event.
“They usually try to get theirs out of the way so they can come participate,” he laughed.
Juneteenth, a combination of the words “June” and “nineteenth,” is an American holiday that commemorates the abolition of slavery. Abraham Lincoln”s Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863, but not all slaves felt the effects of the order until two years later.
“It took that long to get there because General Gordon Granger was delivering the message by horseback,” said Cindy Lawrence, the co-founder of Columbus” observance of the holiday.
On June 19, 1865, Granger and his soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced that all slaves were to be freed. And so began Juneteenth, the oldest abolition celebration in the U.S.
“It”s a celebration of friendship, and it educates our community about our history,” Lawrence said. “I think this year is going to be even bigger than last year.”
Columbus plans to commemorate the holiday this year with music, crafts and plenty of food. Vendors come from as far away as Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama, Brooks said.
The event will kick off at 9 p.m. on Thursday with a party featuring DJ Love Bone at the Master Host Inn. There will be a $5 cover. On Friday, local bands will perform at Sim Scott Park on 20th Street North. Nathaniel Best and the C-Town Express will play at 8 p.m. The Brown Sugar Band and Show will follow at 9:15 p.m. On Saturday, the music will continue at 5:30 p.m. with Gospel music performed by Mark Henderson, Noxubee County Mass Choir and Mississippi Nightingale. Later in the evening, the Crossroad Band and Show and Karen Wolfe will play. J. Blackfoot will headline at 9:45 p.m. All concerts are free.
Brooks said that the response from the community in previous years has been heartening.
“As time has passed,” Brooks said, “we”ve been reaching our goal of diversity.”
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