Marblehead To Raise Juneteenth Flag At Abbot Hall Ceremony

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead will officially recognize the Juneteenth holiday in 2021 with a flag-raising ceremony at Abbot Hall.

The ceremony will take place June 18 at 5 p.m. in honor of the day slaves in Texas were freed when word of the Union's Civil War victory made it to Galveston two years after Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.

The event is a collaboration of the North Shore Juneteenth Association, Inc. and the town of Marblehead, and will feature speakers, song and a special poem from Village School sixth-grader Damilola Graciella Olabisi.

Board of Selectman member Jackie Belf-Becker will give opening remarks followed by NSJA founder and president Nicole McClain. Marblehead Superintendent of Schools John Buckey and Marblehead Task Force Against Racial Discrimination Co-Chair Rev. Dr. Annie Marie Hunter will speak.

Marblehead Racial Justice Team member Nikki Moore will give a celebration and Martina Campbell will sing the Black national anthem.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)