FREEDOM DAY | JUNE 19

Juneteenth

On June 19, 1865, more than two years following President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, the Union Army reached Galveston, Texas, and informed enslaved African Americans the Civil War had ended and that they were finally free. June 19 has since commemorated the end of slavery for all Americans, and is celebrated as America's second Independence Day: Juneteenth. We encourage all members of the Johns Hopkins SAIS community to learn more about the history of Juneteenth here.

Johns Hopkins will observe the anniversary of Juneteenth as an official university holiday. The university will honor the holiday on Monday, June 20. The school’s Diversity Council invites all members of the SAIS community to celebrate Juneteenth through events taking place in the Baltimore-Washington area listed below.

EVENT LIST:

Juneteenth Game Night

Thursday, June 16 | 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. EDT
Bring your board games and Spades partners for this game night hosted by the Johns Hopkins Black Faculty and Staff Association. There will be music by guest DJs and happy hour finger foods and drinks.

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Community Archives: Preserving Black Baltimore

Friday, June 17 | 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. EDT
This exhibition showcases the rich histories that lie within non-traditional archives in Black Baltimore and captures the archival labor process of Inheritance Baltimore's Community Archives Program. It features items donated from community partners such as the Eubie Blake Cultural Arts Center, The Afro Newspaper Archives, and three historic Black churches of West Baltimore, alongside documentary photos of the Community Archives team at work.

The exhibition will be on display in the M-Level of the Milton S. Eisenhower Library until July 15.

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Juneteenth at Homewood: Expressions of Freedom

Friday, June 17 | 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
The Billie Holiday Center for Liberation Arts and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences host Juneteenth at Homewood: Expressions of Freedom.

The Billie Holiday Center's Living History Fellow, Elder Charles Dugger, will lead a libation ritual and render a theatrical retelling of the first Juneteenth, laying the foundation for interactive praise dancing and spoken word to follow. Performers from Urban Foli will provide drumming as Ms. Amaniyea Payne, a native Baltimorean and global cultural icon, will enact the West African-derived church dancing styles of early Black Methodists, surviving today in tidewater Maryland as a regional variant of the African American ring shout tradition. Prize-winning youth poets from DewMore Baltimore, Black Rose and Jay Le Rey, will follow with embodied responses that reflect on Juneteenth and the protection of free speech. Community Organizer Nneka N'namdi will deliver the keynote address. Rounding out the program will be a festival of Black music, soul, and joy, as the talking drums of Urban Foli and the turntables of DJ Tanz join forces to create an improvisational freedom soundscape.

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Juneteenth Celebration

Friday, June 17 | 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. EDT
Celebrate Juneteenth 2022: Resilience, Liberation, Wellness, and Self-Determination, featuring Sonya Renee Taylor, founder and radical executive officer of The Body is Not An Apology. Taylor, an activist, award-winning performance poet, and transformational leader, is globally known and recognized for her work as a change agent.

Taylor will discuss radical self-love and body empowerment as a tool for social justice and transformation.

This event is sponsored by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, the Department of Health Policy & Management, and the Office of Inclusion, Diversity, Anti-Racism, and Equity (IDARE).

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BFSA Juneteenth Celebration Weekend: Induction Ceremony

Friday, June 17 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. EDT
Please join the Black Faculty & Staff Association for a Juneteenth Celebration Weekend with the theme "Rebuilding Our Community." The IRB 10th Anniversary Induction Ceremony event within the weekend is on June 17.

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Indispensable Role of Blacks at JHU Induction Ceremony

Friday, June 17 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. EDT
The project recognizes the Black students, faculty, and staff who have contributed to the university's rich history and who have brought honor to Johns Hopkins through their achievements.

This year's inductees are:

Sharon Solomon, Katharine M. Graham Professor of Ophthalmology and the first African American woman to be named full professor at the Wilmer Eye Institute
Sherita Hill Golden, professor of medicine and vice president and chief diversity officer for the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Sharon Morris, retired director of the Washington, D.C., Regional Libraries for Johns Hopkins
Maryland State Senator Charles Sydnor III

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the digital exhibit. We are also honoring and acknowledging our past inductees who are able to attend the ceremony.

The IRB is co-sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Black Faculty and Staff Association, the Office of the President, and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

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BFSA Juneteenth Celebration Weekend

Friday, June 17 | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. EDT
Please join the Black Faculty & Staff Association for a Juneteenth Celebration Weekend with the theme "Rebuilding Our Community." The main Juneteenth event within the weekend is on June 17.

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Juneteenth: Rebuilding Our Community

Friday, June 17 | 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EDT
Juneteenth has been celebrated in the United States since 1865, when the news was delivered in Galveston, Texas, that all enslaved people were freed. Though the festivities and traditions have evolved, they have always included a celebration of the ancestors who showed younger generations that all things are possible through faith, hard work, and a passion for knowledge. In this celebration of the ancestors, the Black Faculty and Staff Association at Johns Hopkins seeks to preserve Black culture and assure Black ancestors that future generations will be instilled with a sense of destiny and responsibility. The topic of this event is "Rebuilding our Community."

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BFSA Juneteenth Celebration Weekend: Gala & Indispensable Role of Blacks at JHU 10^th Anniversary Gala

Saturday, June 18 | 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. EDT
The BFSA's Indispensable Role of Blacks at Johns Hopkins project is 10 years old. It recognizes the Black students, faculty, and staff who have contributed to the university's rich history and who have brought honor to Johns Hopkins through their achievements. The project now features over 80 individuals, whose images grace the walls at selected sites around the university.

The Gala will be a fun-filled evening of dinner, music, dancing, and acknowledgements of our 2022 inductees, past inductees, and the BFSA presidents who have supported and nurtured the project over the years. The last in-person BFSA gala was the BFSA 20th anniversary gala in 2015. Come and reconnect with friends and support this event.

There is a semi-formal dress code for the event.

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Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth in Washington, DC

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day or Liberation Day, marks the emancipation of Black people who had been enslaved in the United States. Not until recently did this historically significant and culturally relevant holiday begin to gain the notice that it deserves. In the nation’s capital, where Juneteenth has been recognized as an official holiday since 2004, you will find plenty of ways to celebrate Black history, freedom and expression from now through Juneteenth weekend (June 17-19). As you plan your celebrations, make sure to check out Ben's Chili Bowl's perfectly timed new music video that honors the DC institution and the city's official music, go-go.

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