Juneteenth Celebration

4 p.m. to 9 p.m. 
Saturday, June 17, 2023
The LOT Downtown (110 S. Main St.)

Join us at the LOT Downtown for our 2023 Juneteenth Celebration! 

EVENT SCHEDULE

4:00 pm - DJ DMann
5:00 pm - Welcome and Opening
5:10 pm - Alicia Azahar (poet)
5:25 pm - Bethlehem Baptist Church Praise Dancers
5:40 pm - Lake Ridge Step Team
6:00 pm - Drea Randle
7:00 pm - Terrhonda Hillman
7:20 pm - AKA Step Team
7:40 pm - La'Kea Stokes

About Juneteenth 

Juneteenth is a federal holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States of America and celebrates African-American culture.  It is celebrated annually on June 19. 

On that day in 1865, Union Major-General Gordon Granger read General Order No. 3 to the people of Galveston, Texas, which read: 

"The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere." 

Juneteenth in Mansfield

Mansfield has had a Juneteenth celebration for more than 30 years. Prior to 2020, the celebration was organized by Brenda Norwood and her husband Norman. 

Brenda Norwood is a former Mansfield Independent School District (MISD) teacher who graduated as part of Mansfield High School's first integrated class in 1966. She would go on to become the school district's first African-American employee and work for the district for more than 40 years. 

In the fall of 2021, MISD opened Brenda Norwood Elementary School at 2000 Julian Feild St. 

Event Sponsors