The Arkansas Martin Luther King Jr. Commission will present a free Juneteenth celebration from 1-5 p.m. June 19 at Dumas High School, 709 Dan Gill Drive.
The 2021 Juneteenth Nonviolence Youth Summit Delta Financial Literacy Program is open to the public.
The celebration will include live music, a comedy showcase, a kids zone, food trucks, Juneteenth Car Show and Shine, arts and crafts show, a free covid-19 vaccination clinic, free school supplies and voter registration and Southeast Arkansas' first Victory Over Violence Peace and Unity March that begins at 12:30 p.m.
The keynote speakers will be Selwyn Jones, uncle of the late George Floyd, and Tawanna Gordon, cousin of the late Breonna Taylor, according to a news release.
The Arkansas MLK Commission, a division of the Arkansas Department of Education, said the cultural event is expected to draw hundreds to the Southeast Arkansas city, including involvement from Pine Bluff, McGehee, Dumas, Dermott and Lake Village.
The Juneteenth program will be an opportunity to provide outreach to the Delta, the Southeast corner of the state which is largely underserved, according to DuShun Scarbrough, Arkansas MLK Commission executive director.
"We are pleased to host the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor," Scarbrough said. "These individuals have turned their pain into a platform to promote unity, healing, reconciliation and solidarity."
"We are also pleased to announce that in partnership with Fox 16 and KARK-TV, we will host Southeast Arkansas' first 'Victory Over Violence' Unity and Peace March," Scarbrough said. "We're inviting the public to bring out youth groups, faith groups, law enforcement, all to march with us to raise awareness about the community's involvement and role in curtailing violence."
JUNETEENTH HISTORY
Known as America's second Independence Day, Juneteenth is a special celebration for communities around the U.S. A combination of "June" and "nineteenth," Juneteenth is a holiday that recognizes when slaves were informed that they were free two years after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, according to the news release.
On June 19, 1865, two and a half years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers led by Major General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, with news the war had ended and the slaves in Texas were now free. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of chattel slavery in the U.S. As of today, Juneteenth is recognized by 47 states and the District of Columbia but is not yet federally recognized, according to the release.
EVENT SPONSORS
Partners of the Dumas Juneteenth celebration include Power 92 Jams, KOKY 102.1, The Praise Network, Fox 16, KARK, Coca-Cola, Next UP Entertainment, Dumas School District, State Farm, WAGE, The Praise Network, Dumas Family Pharmacy, Walmart, McGehee MLK Committee, Delta Memorial Hospital, City of Dumas, Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, Arkansas Department of Human Services, McGehee Hospital, Crop Marketing Service, Devereaux and Clearwater Paper Corp., according to the release.