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Several institutions are creating new initiatives and platforms to educate mainstream audiences about African American history that is often left out of many classrooms. This week it was announced that six of the leading museums centered around Black American culture are now coming together to create a new platform in honor of Juneteenth in light of the current events.

BLKFREEDOM is a new digital platform that commemorates of one of the country’s oldest holidays, Juneteenth, featuring an original video presentation with Lonnie G. Bunch III, the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Dr. Johnetta Betsch Cole, the first female African American president of Spelman College, and the Honorable Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, the first woman and the first African American to lead the national library.

The platform was brought together by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (Detroit, MI), Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park (Hill Head Island, SC), Northwest African American Museum (Seattle, WA), Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater (Miami, FL), National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati, OH), and the National Civil Rights Museum (Memphis, TN).

 

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Juneteenth Celebration in 1900 at Eastwoods Park (Austin, Texas) 📸: Austin History Center. BLKFREEDOM.org will commemorate the 155th Anniversary of Juneteenth just as those pictured above, 120 years ago! Juneteenth dates back to June 19, 1865 when union soldier, Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with the news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. This announcement was more than two and half years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. BLKFREEDOM.org is a combined effort between Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History @thewrightmuseum (Detroit, MI), Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park (Hilton Head Island, SC), Northwest African American Museum @naamnw (Seattle, WA), Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater @bahltsoflo (Miami, FL), National Underground Railroad Freedom Center @freedomcenter (Cincinnati, OH), and the National Civil Rights Museum @ncrmuseum (Memphis, TN). Through educational content, artistic performances, and shareable discussion prompts, this collaborative program will explore the meaning and relevance of “freedom”, “justice” and “democracy” in Black American life, from a historical and contemporary framework. To learn more and subscribe for updates, visit blkfreedom.org. #BlkFreedom

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