The Martin Luther King, Jr. Association of Asheville and Buncombe County, in partnership with the City of Asheville, has planned the 2023 Juneteenth Celebration with the intended outcomes of a diverse celebration that fosters broad participation, fosters community awareness and appreciation, and celebrates the liberation of enslaved people. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19 th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This was two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Thus, starting the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. The City of Asheville designated Juneteenth as a City holiday in 2021, and on June 8, Mayor Esther Manheimer issued a proclamation acknowledging Juneteenth as a day of celebration for Black Americans.
The films listed below will also be shown each evening, June 12 – 16, at Ferguson Auditorium, Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
- The Woman King, Wednesday, June 14
- Ray, Thursday, June 15
- Madea’s Family Reunion, Friday, June 16