BPL, BCRI to Host Virtual Program “From Juneteenth to Justice” on June 19

Juneteeth is Friday, June 19, 2020.

What: "From Juneteenth to Justice," a Virtual Program Partnership Between the Birmingham Public Library and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
When: Friday, June 19, 2020
Time: 12:00 p.m. on BPL Facebook page 
Presented by Barry McNeely, Education Programs Consultant for BCRI (Birmingham Civil Rights Institute)
Details: Candice Hardy, Outreach Librarian for the Birmingham Public Library, will host a Zoom Video Presentation of this powerful discussion to celebrate Juneteeth. Books of interest on the subject of race and social justice will be shared.

On Friday, June 19, 2020, African-Americans across the United States will celebrate Juneteenth, the oldest known national celebration of the end of slavery. Also called Emancipation Day, it marks the day black slaves learned that President Abraham Lincoln had on Jan. 1, 1863 issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing them.

Most slaves did not receive word of Lincoln’s action until over two years later in June 1865, thus the name Juneteenth.

The Birmingham Public Library is partnering with the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to honor the occasion by hosting a powerful virtual discussion, “From Juneteeth to Justice.” Candice Hardy, BPL’s outreach librarian, will host the Zoom video presentation, which will be available on the BPL Facebook page at noon on Friday, June 19.  Books of interest on the subject of race and social justice will be shared.

Also on June 19, BCRI is hosting its annual Juneteeth Festival from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the adjacent Kelly Ingram Park downtown. The free event will include a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, music, poetry, face painting, moon walks from children, a Greek stroll off for sororities/fraternities and a line dance contest.

For information on the Juneteenth Festival, click here https://www.bcri.org/juneteenthcelebration/

 Here are some interesting facts about Juneteenth, courtesy of CNN 

 • 155 - Years since Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger (Union Army) first read the proclamation, General Orders, No. 3, in Galveston, Texas, notifying slaves of their emancipation, on June 19, 1865

. • January 1, 1863 - Date President Abraham Lincoln issued the final Proclamation, freeing those enslaved.

 • 901 - Days in between the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and General Orders, No. 3.

 • 13th - Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that abolished slavery.

 • 3,953,760  (over 3.95 million) - Estimated number of slaves in the United States in 1860.

 • 500,000 - Estimated number of free blacks in the United States in 1860. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, about half were in the North and half were in the South.

 • 15 - States where it was legal to have slaves before the Civil War: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

 • 45 - States with laws or resolutions celebrating Juneteenth.

 • January 1, 1980 - Juneteenth became a state holiday in Texas, although it had been celebrated informally since 1865.

• 45,133,880 (Over 45.1 million) - African-Americans (one race alone or in combination) in the United States in 2016, according to the most recent Census Bureau estimate.