Issued by President Lincoln on Jan. 1, 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed people enslaved in the Confederate States — on paper at least. In reality, news of emancipation only traveled as fast as Union troops could carry it, meaning people in Galveston, Texas, weren’t informed until June 19, 1865.
Black communities have been celebrating this occasion ever since, but Juneteenth was not recognized as a federal holiday until 2021.
Juneteenth on the East, now in its fifth year, is scheduled Thursday, June 19 to Saturday, June 21. Free festivities include a Black Creativity Panel and Fashion Showcase featuring designer April Walker 4-9 p.m. Thursday, June 19 at Innovation Hall, 316 NE Ninth St.; a 5K run through the 23rd Street East community neighborhoods 7 p.m. Friday, June 20; and a performance by Mississippi hip-hop artist Big K.R.I.T.
Community organizer Jabee Williams said the biggest challenge producing this year’s event has been securing sponsorship funding.
“A lot of the sponsors that have sponsored in the past haven’t,” Williams said. “I think a lot of people and groups are seeing that, especially when you’re dealing with events like Juneteenth that are about celebrating diversity and inclusion and anything about Black history. … Some of the organizations and businesses that were giving money to community events like this aren’t doing it anymore. … Those things were important to groups before. They aren’t that important to them right now.”
According to Forbes, many corporations, including IBM, Victoria’s Secret, Paramount, Bank of America, Pepsi, Google, McDonald’s, Walmart and Target have altered hiring practices, changed language in their annual reports or renamed departments and programs in response to the Trump administration’s push to end diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) efforts in government agencies and private businesses.
Having fewer sponsors limits the scope of the Juneteenth celebration, which depends on donations for funding.
“It’s hard to adapt whenever our event is completely free to the community,” Williams said. “The biggest thing is just trying to scale back on some of the things that we used to do. We used to bring two headliners. We’re only bringing the one this year.”
But funding challenges won’t stop the party. Williams said Juneteenth on the East drew an estimated 15,000 visitors last year and hopes to attract at least as many this year.
“It just makes us want to go even harder,” Williams said. “We’re gonna continue to do it and to partner with those who want to partner with us and continue to put on a great event for the community. … We’re just trying to continue to honor and celebrate the history of what Juneteenth is and what it means, not just for black people, but for all Americans.”
In his posthumously published novel, Juneteenth, Oklahoma City-born author Ralph Ellison wrote, “Nothing ever stops; it divides and multiplies, and I guess sometimes it gets ground down superfine, but it doesn’t just blow away.”
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This article appears in deadCenter Film Festival 2025.