City of Alameda Commemorates Juneteenth
Published on June 08, 2021
City of Alameda Commemorates Juneteenth with Streaming of “Words That Made the Difference: BROWN vs the BOARD OF EDUCATION”
Words That Made the Difference: BROWN vs the BOARD OF EDUCATION is written and directed by Dr. Cindy Acker, Ed.D., a 5-time award-winning educator and playwright who lives and works in the City of Alameda.
WHAT: Free Zoom production followed by Q&A: Words That Made the Difference: BROWN vs the BOARD OF EDUCATION
WHEN: Saturday, June 19, 7:00 pm
WHERE: Watch online at Facebook Live or Zoom
The screening, which runs 1 hour and 43 minutes, is based on actual events in the fight to end school segregation and is set in the courtrooms of history, capturing the real words in court cases that culminated in Brown vs. The Board of Education. The script draws from the trial transcripts of the five cases that were brought together in front of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Earl Warren's memoirs. As with Juneteenth, the words of Brown took effect years after the legal ruling.
Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to carry the announcement that all enslaved people were free, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. The next year, the first celebration of Juneteenth/Jubilee Day was organized on June 19th.
Today, at least 45 states recognize Juneteenth as a state holiday and there are current efforts to make Juneteenth a national holiday. In 2016, the City of Alameda began proclaiming the day as Juneteenth Day, recognizing and celebrating the country’s oldest commemoration of Black and African American freedom, achievement, and triumph of the human spirit over the cruelty of slavery.
The Brown vs. Board of Education ruling made history in 1954, 89 years after Juneteenth. 2021 is the 156th year commemorating Juneteenth, and we continue to fight for freedom and equality, and against racism, hate, and bigotry. Juneteenth stands to remind us that all must be free, and yet no one is free until all are free.
Read more about Words That Made the Difference: BROWN vs the BOARD OF EDUCATION here.
This event is free to the public. This production was funded in part by the City of Alameda Public Art Small Grants program.