Lift Every Voice & Celebrate Juneteenth!
Juneteenth (June 19) is a momentous day in American history that marked the actual end of African-American slavery in the United States, some two and half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had been made effective. On June 19, 1865, Union Army General Gordon Granger publicly read General Order No. 3 after his arrival in Galveston, Texas with 2,000 Union troops, declaring that all formerly enslaved people in the state were now freed. As Texas was the largest and furthest slave-holding state from the North, Union presence had been insufficient to enforce Lincoln’s Executive Order, and slave owners had generally ignored it, making Texas the last state to free its slaves. This order enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation effectively ended institutional African-American slavery in the U.S.
A number of songs have become associated with Juneteenth specifically, perhaps most prominent among them is “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing,” written as a poem in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson as a celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday and set to music in 1905 by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson. Called “the Negro National Hymn” by the NAACP, the spiritual classic has been recorded by musicians ranging from Beyoncé to major jazz artists including Jason Moran, Charles Lloyd, Hank Crawford and Jimmy McGriff, Cyrus Chestnut, Jazzmeia Horn, Joey DeFrancesco, Brandee Younger, Russell Malone, Eric Reed, Ronald Shannon Jackson, Winard Harper, Nnenna Freelon, and recently by the SFJAZZ Collective (arranged by Warren Wolf, and featuring vocals by Martin Luther McCoy).
This day is rightly seen as a joyous celebration of freedom and a call for education, action, and reflection. SFJAZZ will continue to recognize Juneteenth as an organization-wide holiday.
To help celebrate and educate, we have assembled a list of local public events and resources that further illuminate the history of the holiday.
Juneteenth Week Celebration
Friday, June 16 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Oakland, CA
Golden Gate Bandshell Happy Hour: Juneteenth Celebration
Friday, June 16, 4:30 pm-7:30 pm
Golden Gate Park Bandshell
Vallejo Juneteenth Festival & Parade
Saturday, June 17, 2023, 11:00 am
Martin Luther King, Jr. Park - Behind City Hall
Vallejo, CA
Juneteenth Freedom Day @ MoAD
Saturday, June 17, 11:00 am-6:00 pm
685 Mission St (at 3rd)
San Francisco, CA 94105
Free Admission
Juneteenth SF Freedom Celebration
Saturday, June 17, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
1330 Fillmore St, San Francisco
Richmond Juneteenth Festival
Saturday, June 17, 10 :00 am – 6:00 pm
Nicholl Park, 3230 Macdonald Ave
Richmond, CA
Unapologetically Black- Juneteenth Celebration
Saturday, July 17, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Theatre of Yugen at NOHspace, 2840 Mariposa St
San Francisco, CA
Suisun City 2nd Annual Juneteenth
Saturday, June 17, 10 :00 am – Sunday, June 18, 6:00 pm
Suisun Waterfront 680 Main St Suisun City, CA
Juneteenth Celebration w/ Fillmore Jazz Ambassadors
Saturday, June 17, 12:00 pm-4:00 pm
Golden Gate Bandshell
14th Annual Juneteenth Festival presented by Afrocentric Oakland
Saturday, June 17, 12:00 pm- 8:00 pm
Lake Merritt
Pride & Juneteenth Celebration Picnic
Saturday, June 17, 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Castle Rock Regional Recreation Area
1700 Castle Rock Rd, Walnut Creek, CA
Juneteenth Celebration
Sat, Jun 17, 10 :00 am – 4:00 pm
Bankhead Theater
2400 First St, Livermore, CA
42nd Annual Juneteenth in the Streets Festival
Saturday, June 17, 12:00 pm – 7:00 pm
African American Community Services
304 N 6th St, San Jose, CA
Albany Juneteenth Celebration 2023
Sun Jun 18 2023 at 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
1251 Solano Ave, Albany, CA
36th Annual Berkeley Juneteenth Festival
Sunday, June 18, 11:00 am to 7:00 pm
Adeline @ Alcatraz, Berkeley
Oakland 16th Annual Juneteenth Celebration & Street Festival, Freedom Day!
Saturday, June 24 · 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
3233 Market Street Oakland