Why Juneteenth? Remembrance and Reflection

Juneteenth also known as Freedom Day and Emancipation Day, is Friday, June 19, a holiday that is arguably as important to our nation as the Fourth of July, since it commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people of Texas, then the most remote region of the Confederacy, finally learned slavery had been abolished and that they were free.

The Center for Lincoln Studies at the University of Illinois will be hosting a panel discussion that addresses the big questions:

What is Juneteenth? Why should we remember it? How was it celebrated in the past? How is it celebrated now?

Join us as we remember and reflect Juneteenth, in honor of one of the final acts of emancipation of slaves in the U.S.

After the program we will have a question and answer session with our panelists.

Panelists:
Ken Page, President of the ACLU Illinois Springfield Chapter and former president of the Springfield NAACP chapter
Cherena Douglass, fundraising chair for the Faith Coalition for the Common Good.
Dr. Tiffani Saunders, Instructor of Sociology and African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Springfield.

Kathryn Harris, first African American and first woman to serve as the President of the Abraham Lincoln Association and currently serves on the ALPLM Board. 

June 17th, 12pm