Metro employees, including board member Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker and Interim Deputy CEO Stephanie Wiggins, joined members of Metro’s African American Employee Association (AAEA) on June 1—in a ceremony outside of Metro headquarters—to kick off a month of celebration for the upcoming 150th Juneteenth anniversary on June 19.
The event featured the Color Guard from the 9th and 10th Calvary Association—the two original segregated all-African American units in the U.S. Army known as the Buffalo Soldiers—in addition to a display of historic items from the regiments.
Juneteenth is the oldest known holiday and celebration that commemorates the abolition of slavery in the United States. It has been celebrated in Galveston, Texas, since 1865, two years after news of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln was initially announced. Today, Juneteenth memorializes African American freedom, emphasizing education and literacy.
On June 19, “The Juneteenth Book Festival Symposium on Black Literature and Literacy” will be held by the African and Middle Eastern Division and the Humanities and Social Sciences Division of the Library of Congress, located in Washington, D.C. It will explore the topics of literature, literacy, and creative arts in the African Diaspora.
The book festival “highlights and celebrates literature and its critical role in the pursuit and protection of the survival, freedom, and expansion of African American men, women and children,” according to a recent press release.
It will also include a series of panels discussions including “The Black State of Literature,” “The Stakeholders of Black Literacy,” and “Independent Artists: Our Journey as Storytellers of the African Diaspora.”
Those attending will take a tour of the Library’s exhibition on “The Civil Rights Act of 1964,” a showcase of the Library’s civil rights collections.
The Library of Congress, founded in 1800, is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. It seeks to inspire creativity and imagination to further human understanding by providing access to knowledge through programs, publications, and exhibitions.
