www.roanoke.com

If you're a bit confused over when Juneteenth will be celebrated in Roanoke, it's with good reason.

With the exception of a citywide Juneteenth picnic last year by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Roanoke has largely ignored a day that legislatures in 26 states (including Virginia) have recognized for formal observance.

But this year, there's almost a whole week's worth of Juneteenth events coming our way. Picnics, black-tie galas, dramatic readings, gospel singing.

Saturday, the SCLC will host a follow-up to last year's Washington Park celebration, and a committee headed by Virginia Del. Onzlee Ware will kick off a three-day Juneteenth Freedom Festival on June 19-21.

These local events don't include the annual Juneteenth celebration sponsored by the Montgomery County/Radford/Floyd County branch of the NAACP in Christiansburg.

Jeff Artis, who is organizing the SCLC's event this weekend, believes the more events, the better.

"The true meaning of Juneteenth is so unknown for everyone, the more Juneteenth events you have, the more you're going to draw attention to the Juneteenth holiday," he said.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the end of slavery. The holiday is June 19, the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1865 with news that the Civil War had ended and that slaves had been freed more than two years earlier.

Various stories exist about the reason for the delay. One story goes that a messenger with the freedom news was killed on his way to Texas. Another is the news was deliberately withheld by slave owners.

Still another is that Union troops waited to go to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, giving slave owners more time to reap one final cotton harvest.

Whatever the reason, news of black Texans' long-delayed freedom was grounds to celebrate. The celebrations were popular in the ensuing years and included activities such as barbecues, rodeos and fishing. But the events began to decline in the early 1900s.

The Poor People's Campaign of 1968 brought together people of all races, creeds and economic levels to show support for the impoverished. The campaign spurred a resurgence in Juneteenth celebrations. The celebration began to take off in 1980 when Juneteenth became an official state holiday in Texas.

Celebrations seek to showcase inclusiveness.

"We try to bring all the community together to celebrate our diversity and to pay tribute to our ancestors," said Deborah Travis, secretary of the NAACP branch in the New River Valley. The organization has held an annual Juneteenth celebration since 2000.

Ware said of his upcoming first-time event, "It's not a black event; it's a people event."

So how did Roanoke end up with four Juneteenth events?

Artis said the SCLC had marked the holiday informally in previous years by packing a grill, going around to different public housing complexes and cooking hot dogs and hamburgers.

Last year, the organization decided to launch a citywide event. Artis sought sponsors, but he didn't want them to write a check and be done. He wanted their participation, to come out and mingle with the community.

They did, Artis said. Business executives not only donated hot dogs and hamburgers, but they also jumped behind grills, cooked them and helped serve them.

The event was successful, Artis said, and drew more than 1,000 people based largely on word of mouth. This year, he expects as many as 2,000, and sponsors have donated food for that number. Everything at the SCLC celebration is free.

Ware said the three-day event, which begins with a reception a week from today, grew out of a state House resolution denoting the third Saturday as Juneteenth Freedom Celebration Day.

"After we passed that, the thought kept coming in my mind, 'You need to do something more with this.' "

Ware said he talked with friends and constituents who wanted to use the celebration as a scholarship fundraiser.

So on June 20, the committee is sponsoring a black-tie dinner at the Roanoke Civic Center. The goal is to raise $30,000 to be distributed in $5,000 increments to students next spring, Ware said.

The next day, Ware said, he will host an all-day outdoor celebration at North Jefferson Street and Gilmer Avenue.

"It draws people together to socialize," Ware said. "I don't see anything wrong with the SCLC having their event this Saturday and us having our event next week.

"I hope it catches on. We want everybody to be involved."

That's the spirit of Juneteenth.

Shanna Flowers' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.