Cape and Islands celebrate Juneteenth with music, art and a visit from Amistad ship

A new documentary film about Cape Cod’s people of color will be featured in this year’s Juneteenth celebrations at three locations, in Dennis, Wellfleet and Provincetown. “Journeys in the Light, Democracy, Diversity, and Myth in the Wake of the Mayflower” will be presented by the Cape Cod Branch of the NAACP and Zion Union Heritage Museum.

President Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday in 2021, to be held annually on June 19. It was the date in 1865 when the Emancipation Proclamation was finally enforced in Texas, where an estimated 250,000 people were still enslaved, two years after President Lincoln’s proclamation.

The “Journeys” film will be shown at the Wellfleet Library June 13 at 7 p.m., at the Cape Cod Museum of Art June 16 at 1 p.m. and at the Provincetown Unitarian Universalist Meeting House June 17 at 1 p.m. The one-hour documentary, produced by filmmaker Janet Murphy Robertson of ArtistsAndMusicians.org in collaboration with the Zion Museum, features local artists Robin Joyce Miller, Carl Lopes, Pamela Chatterton-Purdy, Joe Diggs, Michael Alfano, Sean Cassidy, Vasco Pires and others. The screenings are free to the public (NOTE: At the art museum, free with paid admission to the museum) and will be followed by question-and-answer sessions with the filmmaker and NAACP and Zion representatives.

The film’s creators looked beyond the Eurocentric Mayflower story to present highlights in the history of the African American, Cape Verdean and Wampanoag people in this region since the arrival of the English settlers in 1620. They found in the Mayflower Compact, and antecedents in Native American governance, powerful relevance for the divided America of today, according to the Artists And Musicians news release.

Falmouth holds second annual arts fest honoring Juneteenth

Falmouth’s second annual Arts Alive Festival, from June 16-18, will include special arts and music events honoring Juneteenth in two performance tents on the Falmouth Public Library Lawn. The festival also will celebrate Father’s Day and Pride month with 35 performers and 80 vendors, Marilyn Rowland of Arts Alive said. All performances are free.

In a reenactment of the original Juneteenth at 10 a.m. on Saturday in the performance tent, State Rep. David Vieira will portray Major General Gordon Granger, the Union Army general who issued the order in Galveston, Texas, for freeing the remaining enslaved people. The event features students, faculty, community members, and representatives of other organizations.  Winners of the school-wide Juneteenth poster contest will be honored, and two student poems celebrating diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging will be read.  Soulfege, Falmouth High School’s a cappella group, will sing.

At 11 a.m. Saturday, singer and songwriter Candida Rose of New Bedford will combine her Cape Verdean musical roots with American jazz, rhythm and blues and gospel that she calls KabuJazz. She will also perform with her ensemble at 11 a.m. Sunday.

The 24 members of College Light Opera Company’s 2023 ensemble will present a selection of songs in celebration of Juneteenth at 3 p.m. Saturday in the music tent. The Teaticket Elementary School Chorus will sing at 3:45 p.m. Also at 3 p.m. in the music tent, there will be a performance by Andrew Sue Wing a Boston-based guitarist, singer and songwriter who blends rhythms of the blues, classic rock and soul jazz.

From June 14-20, the Falmouth Library will present the “Storywalk: A Flag for Juneteenth” by Kim Taylor on the sideway path along the library while reading the story about Huldah and her community of African Americans in Texas creating a flag to celebrate their freedom.

For more information on Arts Alive events, visit artsfalmouth.org/arts-alive-2023.

Highfield Hall, Wellfleet Preservation Hall, MBL hold events

Highfield Hall and Gardens in Falmouth will hold a Juneteenth Celebration from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on June 19, co-sponsored with the Woods Hole Diversity Advisory Committee, featuring the tunes of Crocodile River Music, refreshments and children’s activities. Several paths of different lengths will be available for contemplative strolls. A Juneteenth children’s story will be featured on the Beech Tree Trail. This event is free, but people are asked to register at Highfieldhallandgardens.org or call 508-495-1878 ext. 2 for planning purposes,

The Marine Biological Lab (MBL) Diversity and Inclusion Committee and the Woods Hole Public Library are collaborating on a movie night to celebrate Juneteenth on Wednesday, June 14, at 7 p.m. Come for a free screening of a film and stay for Juneteenth-themed trivia and prizes. Visit woodsholepubliclibrary.org.

On the Outer Cape, Wellfleet Preservation Hall will host jazz violinist David Eure and his jazz trio (Lee Adler on piano/keyboards and Chris Rathbun on bass) celebrating Juneteenth on June 17, 5-7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and may be bought at wellfleetpreservationhall.org.

Amistad replica visits Martha's Vineyard

Martha’s Vineyard will have a variety of Juneteenth Jubilee events in three island towns over the weekend, and most are free. They include a visit of a replica of the schooner Amistad, the historic ship that became famous after a group of enslaved Africans led a successful revolt and won their freedom in the U.S. Supreme Court. Free tours and events on the ship will be June 17 and 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tisbury Wharf off Beach Road in Vineyard Haven. The film, “Amistad” will be shown Friday at 3 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center.

The Vineyard Gazette Media Groups will present “Sailing to Freedom,” a panel discussion at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum on Lagoon Pond Road in Vineyard Haven on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and will include the executive director of Discovering Amistad. A museum exhibit of stories of enslavement, indenture and incarceration on the Vineyard will be on display through Sunday.

Two documentary films will be shown at Union Chapel in Oak Bluffs on Friday, June 16, at 5 p.m. The first episode of the “1619 Project” docuseries based on Pulitzer Prize winner, Nikole Hannah-Jones’ landmark 1619 Project will be followed by “Jubilee, Juneteenth & The Thirteenth,” that depicts the role of African Americans in Boston in freeing slaves.

The annual Juneteenth Jubilee Cultural Festival will include a day of free music and cultural performances from 12:30 to 7 p.m. in Trinity Park Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, including a fireside chat with Hannah-Jones. The Oak Bluffs Public Library will have a tent featuring adult and children’s books on African-Americans Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Also on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. a screening of “The Original Kings of Comedy” film by Spike Lee will be in the Strand Theater, Oak Bluffs.

On Sunday at 10 a.m., Union Chapel will hold a special service with the Rev. Michael Eric Dyson. The Oak Bluffs Association invites all to bring a picnic to Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs on Monday from 4 to 6 p.m. A cookbook potluck meal and discussion will be held at the Oak Bluffs Library on June 20 at 5:30 p.m.

A gospel brunch honoring Captain William (Bill) Pinkney and featuring a performance by Athene Wilson will be held on Monday at 10 a.m. at the Edgartown Yacht Club followed by private tours on the Amistad. Cost is $125.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Looking to celebrate Juneteenth? Cape and Islands offer many ways