UA Little Rock to Mark Second Annual Juneteenth Celebration
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will host its second annual Juneteenth celebration on Monday, June 19, with an all-day commemoration featuring Sen. Joyce Elliott as the keynote speaker.
The Juneteenth event will celebrate freedom and heritage through critical conversations about the origins of Juneteenth, affirming traditions within Black culture, and reflections upon the legacy of Juneteenth. The event is sponsored by PepsiCo and the Office of the Chancellor.
“I think Coretta Scott King sums up the importance of Juneteenth well when she says, ‘Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation,’” said Dr. Melvin Beavers, assistant professor and the chancellor’s DEI fellow. “Juneteenth is always a good reminder that freedom, like maintaining a democracy, requires action, work, and a commitment to seeing everyone’s humanity.”
The Juneteenth celebration will begin at 10 a.m. June 19 in the Stella Boyle Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building with a welcome by Chancellor Christina Drale followed by a “What Juneteenth Means to Me” video presentation and a Juneteenth performance by S. Juain Young.
At 10:30 a.m., Dr. Carl Moneyhon, professor emeritus of history at UA Little Rock, will speak about the origins of Juneteenth and the impact of reconstruction. Moneyhon’s primary fields of study are the Civil War and Reconstruction eras with a focus on events in Arkansas and Texas. His article, “Emancipation Day to Juneteenth: The Origins of a Texas Celebration,” is scheduled for publication by Southwestern Historical Quarterly in July 2024.
From noon to 2 p.m., the celebration will move to the Donaghey Student Center Ledbetter Hall for a catered lunch featuring Black-owned businesses, including CBR’Z Catering, Cici’s Chicken and Waffles, and SAP’s Creole Cuisine. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn more about community organizations who are joining in the Juneteenth celebration and pick up a copy of UA Little Rock’s commemorative Juneteenth Cookbook.
The celebration moves back to Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall at 2 p.m., when Michael Williams will introduce Sen. Joyce Elliott, who will give her speech, “Remembering Juneteenth – Celebrate, Educate, and Inspire.”
Sen. Elliott was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives in 2000 and to the Senate in 2008. After reaching her term limit on Dec. 31, 2022, she now serves as the executive director of Get Loud Arkansas, a nonprofit organization working to fight voter suppression, register new voters, engage low-propensity voters, and mobilize all eligible voters to utilize the power of their vote to shape the future of Arkansas. She is also the co-chair of the board for the National Center on Education and the Economy, an organization dedicated to the study, design, and building of equitable, high-performing, and cost-effective education and work development systems that prepare students to contribute to our democratic society and compete in the global economy.
All of the UA Little Rock Juneteenth events are free and open to the public. Please visit this link for a full schedule of events. Those who plan to participate in person may register online for the Sen. Elliott and Moneyhon talks as well as the Juneteenth lunch. Virtual participants may register via this online form.
Those who register for the Juneteenth events will also be placed in a book raffle for a chance to win one of the following books: “The Impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Arkansas” by Carl Moneyhon; “Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and the Health of the Nation” by Linda Vilarosa; “Weathering – The Extraordinary Stress of Ordinary Life in an Unjust Society” by Arline Geronimus; and “How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America” by Clint Smith.
