Natural State News

Various communities across Arkansas plan to celebrate June Nineteenth in honor of enslaved African Americans who learned they were the last to be freed on June 19, 1865. 

"Juneteenth points to an American story of people who came from nothing and they received news that they got a new start, a new beginning. It was an opportunity to rewrite history, and I think it speaks volumes of this bill," said DuShun Scarbrough, executive director of the Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission.

The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, KATV reported. 

Little Rock’s Mosaic Templars Cultural Center will host one of the events to honor the holiday. According to the center's director, Key Fletcher, the state has celebrated Juneteenth since the very year all Black slaves in the country were freed. 

The center suspended its plans to celebrate last year amid COVID-19 lockdowns but will compensate for the loss with a four-day event this year. The virtual version of the event began earlier this week on their Facebook page and featured African American art, dance and poetry, KATV reported.

"We know that's not just in history, we know that it's in culture, that it's in art, that's in health and that's in revitalizing our communities and building that entrepreneurial spirit," Fletcher said. "Every day is going to be dedicated to all of those things."

Scarbrough has invited the family members of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor, both victims of excessive police force, to their scheduled program this weekend in Dumas. Scarbrough considers the Biden administration’s decision to declare Juneteenth a federal holiday, “a step in the right direction.”

"These individuals have turned their pain into a platform to promote unity, healing and reconciliation," Scarbrough told KATV.

Considering the importance of educating people about the holiday’s history, Fletcher will allow visitors to enter the museum to engage with live music performances.

"These topics and these areas are things that we know the community wants to hear about, and so we're excited that we're going to have recordings every day at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.," Fletcher said.