Amherst Schedules Two Juneteenth Celebrations in June
Amherst will honor the historic emancipation holiday with events on two dates, featuring music, film, speakers, and a community celebration.
Amherst is planning two separate Juneteenth celebrations this month, honoring the emancipation of enslaved people and the contributions of Black Americans to the region's history.
The Ancestral Bridges Foundation, the Black Business Association of Amherst Area, Sankofa Gumbo, and the Amherst Cinema are sponsoring events on June 14 and June 19. Juneteenth marks the moment in June 1865 when Union Army soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas with news of freedom from the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863.
Ancestral Bridges will hold its sixth annual Juneteenth Legacy Celebration on Sunday, June 14, beginning at noon at West Cemetery on Triangle Street. The event honors Black and Afro-Indigenous soldiers from Amherst who served in the Massachusetts 54th Regiment and 5th Cavalry during the Civil War. After the cemetery observance, attendees are invited to a homecoming celebration at 1 p.m. at Ancestral Bridges, 29A Cottage Street, featuring jazz musician Avery Sharpe. Pam Tillis will share memories of her father, musician Gil Roberts, and discuss connections between Amherst and Galveston, Texas, where the 5th Cavalry stood in 1865.
The Amherst Cinema will screen the film "One Night in Miami" at 4:30 p.m. on June 14, with a short introduction by Darryl Harper, a music professor at Amherst College. The screening is free and open to all. Tickets are available at the box office during regular hours or at the door. The town's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department has a limited number of tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis through June 12, with a limit of four per family.
The 17th Annual Juneteenth Jubilee will take place on Friday, June 19 from 3 to 6 p.m. at St. Bridgid's Parish Auditorium, 43 North Prospect Street. The event will include remarks from state Representative Mindy Domb and a keynote address by historian Dr. Amilcar Shabazz. The program will feature drumming, dancing, spoken word, hip-hop, gospel music, and a vendor marketplace. An awards ceremony will honor Kathleen Anderson with the inaugural Extraordinary Leadership Award and Charles Walker-Hoover with the Youth Excellence Award.
Food will be provided by Africana Bowl and Talk of the Town, and Alysia Bryant of Carefree Cakery has created two custom cakes to celebrate Juneteenth and the Black Business Association of Amherst Area's tenth anniversary. BBAAA President Pat Ononibaku said the event is dedicated to the late Dr. Demetria Shabazz, an oral historian who grew up in Galveston and established Juneteenth celebrations in Amherst. Donations for Hadley Black fire survivors will be collected, and Juneteenth t-shirts will be sold to support BBAAA youth programming.