SSU Professor Closes Out Melrose’s Juneteenth Ceremony, Proclamation Available to Sign at MPL
The City’s Juneteenth proclamation is available at the Melrose Public Library for residents to sign as a way of joining the City’s aspiration of being, “One Community, Open to All,” and honoring the history and significance of Juneteenth as well as the City’s Black community.
Pictured: To close out Melrose’s Juneteenth Ceremony, Salem State Professor Jamie Wilson describes the realities of slavery in the United States and the true yet lesser-known history behind Juneteenth (photo credit: Raj Das, ED Photography). Read Wilson's remarks.
Pictured: Melrose residents and father and son duo Joe Phillips and Michael Phillips raise the Juneteenth flag as NSJA member Janey David sings the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing” during Melrose’s Juneteenth Flag Ceremony (Photo Credit: Raj Das, ED Photography).
Pictured: During Melrose’s Juneteenth Ceremony, Dr. Reverend Andrew Bennette provides a powerful reflection recollection of the history of slavery in the United States and the realities of the inequalities that impact the Black and Brown communities today (Photo credit: Raj Das, ED Photography).
SSU Professor Closes Out Melrose’s Juneteenth Ceremony, Proclamation Available to Sign at MPL
This past Friday, June 16, members of the Melrose community joined the Office of Mayor Paul Brodeur, elected officials, Salem State University Professor Jamie Wilson, Medford Poet Laureate Terry Carter, and other North Shore Juneteenth Association members as the City celebrated Juneteenth during its third annual Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony.
Wilson, of Malden, is a Professor of History at Salem State University. During his remarks, he revealed the lesser-known history of Juneteenth as well as the realities of slavery in the United States, including Massachusetts. Residents can read Wilson's remarks online, or by visitng the Melrose Public Library.
In addition to Professor Wilson’s keynote remarks and a live poetry performance by Poet Laureate Carter, of Medford, the Juneteenth celebration featured a powerful reflection by Lynn resident and activist Dr. Reverend Andre Bennette; remarks by Keshawn Little; a performance of the Black National Anthem “Lift Every Voice, and Sing,” by Janey David; and remarks by City Council President Jen Grigoraitis, Mayor Paul Brodeur, Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian, and Senator Jason Lewis.
Melrose resident Michael Phillips, age 12, raised the City’s Juneteenth Flag with his father, Joe Phillips, a Melrose Human Rights Commission member and Chair of Mayor Brodeur’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Task Force.
Sign the City's Juneteenth Proclamation, Available at the MPL
In addition, Mayor Brodeur read the City’s official Juneteenth proclamation, which is available at the Melrose Public Library (MPL) for residents to sign as a way of joining the City’s aspiration of being, “One Community, Open to All,” and honoring the history and significance of the Juneteenth holiday and the City’s Black community. The MPL is currently located at 263 W. Foster Street in Melrose (The Beebe School).
The ceremony, which took place at City Hall, was made possible through a partnership between the Office of Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur and the North Shore Juneteenth Association (NSJA) to celebrate Juneteenth—Emancipation Day—and increase public engagement and awareness of the significance of the holiday.
Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day or Freedom Day, represents the end of slavery in the United States. Despite Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation taking effect on January 1, 1863, hundreds of thousands of Black people continued to be enslaved in the United States. It was not until Union soldiers delivered the news of the abolition of slavery in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, that the last group of enslaved Black people in the United States were freed. The following year, on June 19, 1866, the first official Juneteenth celebrations took place in Texas.