Celebrating Juneteenth in Madera

Celebrating Juneteenth in Madera
Donte McDanials plays a traditional African drum as African Drum Corp of Fresno entertained the crowd.

BY JOHN TIPTON

About 100 people, including many local officials, turned out on June 19 for the third annual Juneteenth celebration at Courthouse Park in Madera. Black Saints United and the City of Madera, with support from the Madera chapter of the NAACP, sponsored the event. Longtime Madera County resident Barbara Faye Nelson was recognized as this year’s Trailblazer.

Juneteenth is celebrated every year on or about June 19 to commemorate the end of the American Civil War and freedom for the former slaves. It was proclaimed by Union General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, two months after the war officially ended—a fact the slaves in Texas were unaware of until then and that the slave owners claimed they didn’t know.

The proclamation also occurred more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation made by President Abraham Lincoln, which officially freed slaves liberated in the rebellious Confederate states, though not at the time in the border states that remained loyal to the Union.

More than 12 million Africans were enslaved and transported to America between 1825 and 1866. Enslaved Africans were also shipped to the rest of the continent.

Photos by John Tipton

Donte McDanials plays a traditional African drum as African Drum Corp of Fresno entertained the crowd.
Attendees at the Juneteenth event in Madera
Barbara Faye Nelson was named Trailblazer award winner at the third annual Juneteenth celebration at Courthouse Park in Madera.
A flag hoisted from a firetruck flew over the Juneteenth celebration in Courthouse Park.

A member of the Madera Juneteenth crowd joins in the singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Stephanie Nathan, president of the Madera chapter of the NAACP, introduced this years Trailblazer, Barbara Faye Nelson.
Pastor Sammy Neely Jr. of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Madera speaks on the meaning of Juneteenth and ongoing fight for equality for all.
An attendee of the Juneteenth celebration at Courthouse Park in Madera.
Brother Donald Holley leads the Juneteenth crowd on the flag salute.
Sister Yvonne Neely delivers words of inspiration at the Juneteenth event in Madera.
Pastor Charles Fryer leads the crowd in a prayer.
Herman Thomas of Madera applauds this year’s Trailblazer, Barbara Faye Nelson.
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Homer Gee Greene Jr
Homer Gee Greene Jr
1 year ago

Nice photographs.

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