Observance June 20 features food, dancing, music, parade
Taylor’s Juneteenth commemoration will be a citywide Freedom Day celebration June 20 in honor of the city’s 150th anniversary, organizers said.
The observance of the historic emancipation event already kicked off with an exhibit of archival photographs called “Soul Circuit, Juneteenth Rodeos in Texas.”
It’s free and runs through July 15 at The McCrory Timmerman Gallery, 112 W. Second St. The exhibit showcases Black rodeo stars.
“Essentially, this is the Dickey Museum’s first act as a museum. We are hosting this photography exhibition via a grant from Humanities Texas,” said Nakevia Miller, executive director of The Dickey Museum & Multipurpose Center.
The museum, 500 Burkett St., originally was the childhood home of humanitarian and civil rights activist James Lee Dickey, a pioneering Black physician. It was destroyed by a fire in July 2022.
Miller said the nonprofit center has completed the interior designs for the rebuilding and reconstruction efforts are progressing.
The local Juneteenth event June 20 is a collaborative effort between the Dickey Museum and the city.
Juneteenth combines the words June and nineteenth to honor June 19, 1865, when the U.S. military arrived in Galveston after the Civil War to let enslaved African Americans know they were free.
Texas made it an official holiday in 1979 and President Joe Biden authorized a nationwide observance on June 17, 2021.
Officials said the plethora of events planned for June 20 fit right in with Taylor’s series of sesquicentennial milestones planned during the year to honor the town’s birthday.
“The city officially adopted the Juneteenth Freedom Day Festival, Parade and Brunch event in 2023. In that time, the city has partnered with the Taylor Juneteenth Committee and The Dickey Museum & Multipurpose Center to help bring this fun-filled, community event to the residents of Taylor,” said Parks and Recreation Director Betsy Schultz.
The parade starts at 9 a.m. and begins at City Hall, 400 Porter St., rolls down Main Street, turns left on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and continues to the Dickey-Givens Community Center, 1015 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
After the parade there will be a free soul food brunch and parade entry winners will be announced. Free line dancing lessons will be offered under the pavilion about 11:15 a.m.
The festival begins at 5 p.m. on the same day in Fannie Robinson Park, 1009 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., with youth activities, vendors, free barbecue and music. Gospel music is scheduled for 5-6 p.m.
A special performance by the African Safari Program is 6:15 p.m. Live music by Myke and Deuce With The Fellas starts at 7 p.m.
A big part of the Juneteenth celebration involves the community gathering for food, according to Juneteenth Committee member Lucille Wright.
“You know, when we give back to the community, everybody’s welcome. The free barbecue at Juneteenth, or when we do our free meals for Thanksgiving, anything we give out is for everybody in Taylor, not a specific race,” Wright said. “And we love everybody. But they need to come to the South Side because that’s where our heritage is.”
Miller said it is important for people representing various ethnicities to stand together in solidarity.
“All are welcome. We want to see you, and we want to know that our fellow citizens support us. Because the way things are trending it could be illegal in the next couple of years to have this Juneteenth celebration,” Miller said. “So, we want to invite all our fellow citizens in Taylor and surrounding areas to join us, to come celebrate freedom, to come and support the vendors and just have a good time and be in community with us.”
