There are so many Juneteenth activities in Queens this year that it’s hard to believe that the date became a national holiday only four years ago.
The World’s Most Diverse Borough is ready to host live performances, screenings, workshops, and community conversations between June 14 and June 21. A chronologic schedule follows. (The list will be updated as more information becomes available. If you know of an event, please send the details to [email protected].)
June 19
The Jamaica Performing Arts Center and the Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning will organize a Marathon Screening on June 19 and June 20. To run from 9 am to 6 pm on both days, the sister nonprofits will screen the multiple-episode TV series Roots with enhancement from audience discussions and remarks from Andrew Sekou Jackson, Rev. Carla Hunter Ramsey, and Courtney Ffrench. It’s free and JPAC’s main entrance is at 153-10 Jamaica Ave.
Jackson, who is also known as “Sekou Molefi Baako,” is a Vietnam veteran and Executive Director Emeritus of the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center. The Queens College graduate is a co-editor of The 21st Century Black Librarian in America: Issues and Challenges (2010, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC) and the Handbook of Black Librarianship, Third Edition (2024, Rowman & Littlefield).
Hunter Ramsey, also a Queens College graduate, has an executive master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College and a master’s in divinity degree from New Brunswick Theological Seminary.
Ffrench, who studied at Queens College as well, is the Artistic Director of JCAL. The Jamaica (West Indies) native is also the founder and director of the Vissi Dance Theater.
Editor’s note: Based on Alex Haley’s best-selling 1976 Doubleday novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” the 1977 series Roots got 37 Primetime Emmy nominations, winning nine. It consists of eight episodes that chronicle Haley’s family from Western Africa to slavery in the United States and eventual emancipation over several generations. It’s based on real events in the historic fiction mode.
The Louis Armstrong House Museum and the Museum of the Moving Image have joined forces to offer The Entrfied Band. Scheduled for noon, the concert is part of a six-hour afternoon with dance performances by Edge School of the Arts, games, a film screening, an animation workshop, and an expert talk.
Admission is free, and MoMI’s main entrance is 36-01 35th Ave. in Astoria’s Kaufman Arts District. Plus, gallery admission is free from 2 pm to 6 pm.
Meanwhile in SEQ, The Family Reunion is set for Roy Wilkins Park at noon. This eight-hour celebration honors the Black family and the African American community’s resilience and liberation. It’s free. Look for it in the vicinity of Merrick Boulevard and Baisley Boulevard in Jamaica.
Plus, the Caribbean American Repertory Theater joins forces with the Theater of the Living Word to present a day of music and drama at the Edward Davis Center, 118-35 Farmers Blvd., starting at 10:30 pm.
June 20
African Folk Heritage Circle storytellers and author and poet David Mills lead a Juneteenth celebration at Maple Grove Cemetery on June 20 at 6:30 pm. Enter via the gate at Kew Gardens Road and 129th Street. Click here to RSVP.
June 21
Head to Louis Armstrong House Museum’s Japanese garden for the Endea Owens Juneteenth Concert at 3 pm. Owens, a bassist, composer, and bandleader, and her band The Cookout will use music to celebrate the African American excellence. It is free, but registration is required. The Armstrong House is located at 34-56 107th St. in Corona.
June 28
The Lewis Latimer House Museum will present three hours of live performances, hands-on activities, and tributes to African American innovation, creativity, and resilience on Saturday, June 28, from 1 pm to 4 pm. Organized in collaboration with Cool Culture, music, dance, games, STEM challenges, and storytelling will also be on tap. It’s free, and the landmark venue is located at 34-41 137th St. in Flushing.
Editor’s note: This event, the Juneteenth Family Festival, was postponed due inclement weather expected on the original date, June 14.
Queens Public Library will honor Juneteenth with an array of special events, activities, and reading lists, including a presentation about Anna Murray Douglass, the influential wife of abolitionist Frederick Douglass, featuring a replica of her wedding dress at the Central Branch, 89-11 Merrick Blvd., Jamaica on Monday, June 23, from 6 pm to 7 pm.
Anna, who was born a free woman and purchased Douglass’s freedom, wore a plum-colored silk gown when she married him. The dress became a symbol of her enduring strength and commitment to the abolitionist movement. Harlem fashion icon Lana Turner and designer Cassandra Bromfield together re-created the dress.
On Monday, June 16, from 11 am to 12:15 pm, Dr. Kimberli Gant, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum, will participate in a virtual talk about her traveling exhibition, Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz & Alicia Keys, and how art collecting preserves and celebrates Black cultural heritage. To join, go here.
QPL will also help teens explore the intersection of technology, imagination, and culture with a series of Afrofuturism-themed programs.
On Thursday, June 12, from 3:30 pm to 4:40 pm, Peninsula Branch (92-25 Rockaway Beach Blvd.) will host Afrofuturist Theory and AI, a workshop designed to introduce teens to Afrofuturism and examine Juneteenth through its lens. Participants will study the works of influential Afrofuturist thinkers such as Sun Ra, Octavia Butler, Janelle Monáe, and Mark Dery through videos, artwork, and excerpts from their stories. They will also examine the ethical use of AI and imagine their futures beyond 2025.
A computer lab-based workshop Afrofuturism x Anime x AI x Tiktok will be held at Far Rockaway Branch (1637 Central Ave.) on Monday, June 16, from 3:30 pm to 5 pm. Teens will learn about what happened on Juneteenth and connect Afrofuturism and Afrofantasy to anime and TikTok, as well as create their own images using AI.
Langston Hughes Library (100-01 Northern Blvd.) will come alive with music, dancing, and storytelling during Juneteenth & Black Music Month Celebration on Saturday, June 14. The event will feature performances by the KA Collective and Big Mike and the Black Saints and a hands-on workshop led by renowned milliner Kathy Anderson, exploring traditional and contemporary Black fashion through hat design.
The Library also invites the public to put on their dancing shoes and join a series of swing dance classes—celebrating rhythm, movement, and Black musical heritage.
To explore the full lineup of Juneteenth events and activities, and to access curated reading lists and resources for all age groups, please go here.
What Is Juneeteenth?
Juneteenth originates from Union General Gordon Granger’s order to grant freedom to slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865. President Abraham Lincoln had issued the nationwide Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, but Texas slave owners hid this news until General Granger’s proclamation. Long celebrated in the Lone Star State, it became a federal holiday in 2021.
Top image: Niles Rencher/Eye of Niles Photography/Juneteenth in Queens powered by the People
Bottom image: Unsplash/Jon Tyson