Stockton to celebrate Juneteenth, with annual event downtown Saturday

Angelaydet Rocha, The Record
·3 min read

The 47th annual Juneteenth Celebration at the Weber Point Events Center in Stockton will feature poetry, live performances, food, and history on Saturday to commemorate the final emancipation of all African-American slaves in 1865.

This year Stockton celebration will include a special tribute and an awards ceremony, said Danelle Shelton, planning committee member San Joaquin Juneteenth Foundation.

“Michael Mitchell, who was a very influential African American musician in Stockton, he recently passed, so there'll be a tribute to him," Shelton said.

The Community Awards Ceremony will also award local community organizations that helped fight COVID-19, Shelton said.

Approximately 75 vendors will be present for the celebration, and many local organizations will also be there.

The foundation is now looking for younger leaders to join next year as board members, committee members, and volunteers, Shelton said. Anyone interested can apply on their website at bit.ly/4686hAa.

What is Juneteenth?

The federal holiday, which is celebrated on June 19, was officially recognized in 2021 by President Joe Biden.

The holiday commemorates the Emancipation Proclamation issued by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln to free enslaved African Americans in secessionist states. This happened on Jan. 1, 1863, but it took two years for the people in Galveston, Texas, to learn of their freedom.

Maj. Gen Gordon Granger informed the community of Galveston of Lincoln’s proclamation on June 19, 1865, months after the Confederacy was defeated. Granger demanded Galveston enslavers comply with the proclamation and set all enslaved people free.

“Every year, we, as an African American community, celebrate that. And so the actual event is just really to celebrate freedom and unity in the community,” Shelton said. “Some people think that it's only for black people, but it's not. It's unity and celebrating freedom from all types of things and just uniting the community.”

In 2020, amid nationwide protests after the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, two black people killed by police, Juneteenth came to national prominence.

Both deaths spotlighted ongoing racial inequities in the justice system and a legacy of slavery in encounters between Black people and the police.

The federal government followed the lead of 47 states that already recognized Juneteenth.

In June 2021, congress passed The Juneteenth National Independence Day Act—the day after the Senate passed the bill with unanimous consent. Two days before June 17, Biden signed the bill into law.

Go have fun

  • What: The 47th annual Juneteenth Celebration at the Weber Point Events Center in Stockton

  • When: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, June 17

  • Where: Weber Point Events Center, 221 North Center Street in Stockton

  • Admission: Free

  • Information: bit.ly/4686hAa or Facebook at Stockton Juneteenth.

Stockton Juneteenth celebration schedule:

  • 10 a.m., doors open

  • 10 a.m., Prayer & Black National Anthem

  • 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Gospel Stage with Michael Mitchell Tribute

  • 12-1 p.m., Community Awards Ceremony

  • 1-5 p.m., Local Bands & Community Performers

Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached atarocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record athttps://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton to celebrate Juneteenth in downtown with annual event