Juneteenth Gets A March, A Festival And A Golf Tourney In Dallas

DALLAS, TX — Don't call it a protest, says organizer Darryl Blair of Elite News. This Juneteenth march, he told The Dallas Morning News, "is a march in peace, not a march in protest. It’s a march in celebration, not a march in conflict. It’s a march that culminates in engagement, encouragement, enlightenment, education and entertainment.”

Juneteenth is the day observed by many African Americans as the day of their liberation — actually the day they discovered that the by-then assassinated Abraham Lincoln had set them free more than two years earlier. Lincolon's proclamation bears the date of Jan. 1. 1863. The first Juneteenth was celebrated in 1865.

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Accordingly, Elite News is joining with the Blair Foundation to host the Juneteenth Celebration, March and Festival June 19. The first-ever march, some 3.2 miles long, is set to start at 10 a.m. in William Blair Jr. Park and conclude at Fair Park, where the festival itself begins.

Juneteenth, although celebrated across the South, has a special resonance in Texas. And in Dallas, the organizers intend to use the event to highlight not only Black history and emancipation, but societal difficulties African Americans continue to grapple with in America today.

A panel will discuss inequities in health and health care, with a particular emphasis on Alzheimer's disease, which disproportionately affects African Americans.

In addition, there will be an exhibit of baseball memorabilia from Kansas City's Negro League Baseball Museum and Dallas Summer Musicals will perform selections from their production of the Broadway classic, Wicked. Walmart will also be on hand to provide doses of COVID-19 vaccine, enabling participants to get a first or a second dose of the Pfizer formula.

Juneteenth festivities will conclude when Elite News and the Blair Foundation host a golf tournament at the Golf Club of Dallas Monday.

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