Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2023
The Texas Southern University community honored Juneteenth at several events both on campus and in the greater Houston region.
Most of the activities, throughout the holiday weekend, paid homage to enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas, who were notified of their freedom due to the destruction of enslavement on June 19, 1865, by General Gordon Granger. However, his denouncement came almost two and a half years following the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.
Again, this year, the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs (SOPA) commemorated Juneteenth with the return of the TSU Juneteenth Statewide Calendar and website. The website served as a resource for Juneteenth events around the state of Texas, and to share events year-round that honor the Juneteenth spirit. The calendar is still available by visit: https://www.tsu.edu/juneteenth/. SOPA also hosted a celebration and symposium that assembled thought leaders and educators to discuss and dissect historical and contemporary issues surrounding Juneteenth and what it means in the lives of Americans today.
The university’s public radio station KTSU-90.9 FM was in high demand during the holiday weekend hosting family-friendly musical events that kept Houston in the groove at the Miller Outdoor Theatre, Emancipation Park, Avenida Houston and The Eldorado Ballroom. Collectively, the events entertained more than 12,000 patrons with tributes to jazz, gospel, R&B, blues and hip-hop. Likewise, the station helped officiate the 10th annual Acres Homes Juneteenth Parade hosted by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Still, TSU’s College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences (COLABS) presented a concert featuring a chorus and soloists in a cantata the retold the harsh portions of the enslavement story from the slave ships to the auction blocks, along the way to “The Old Ship of Zion.”
The acclaimed debate team was featured during an event sponsored by Houston Society for Change at the Congregation Beth Yeshurun that celebrated Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, co-author of the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.
And for the second year, the Juneteenth HBCU Alliance Weekend organized by the TSU National Alumni Association, Inc. and the Prairie View A&M National Alumni Association offered a diverse range of activities focused on education, professional development, networking, Juneteenth history and celebrating the rich legacy of contributions by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Category: Students, News Media, Alumni, Faculty & Staff