The city of Edinburg will be observing its Black heritage with the 29th annual Juneteenth Celebration this weekend.
The event kicked off Monday with a week’s worth of exhibits and activities at the Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library in Edinburg in observance of Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the end of slavery.
“This whole week we’ve had some displays upstairs, we have an exhibit downstairs, and we also have children’s activities,” Magdiel Castle, assistant director of the Edinburg Library Cultural Arts Department, said. “We have all the materials and all the activities here. Anybody is welcome to attend. You don’t have to sign up.”
The library will also be hosting a virtual discussion with Harvard Professor and Pulitzer Prize-winner Annette Gordon Reed at 7 p.m. Thursday. Reed is the author of “On Juneteenth,” and will be discussing the historic day and its significance in today’s fight for equality.
The discussion will be hosted by Dr. Daina Ramey Berry, chair of the history department at the University of Texas at Austin. More information can be found at www.lbjlibrary.org.
Saturday’s events will kick off at 9 a.m. with a memorial observation at the Edinburg Municipal Auditorium, located at 200 N. Seventh Ave.
The event will continue with a freedom caravan to Betts Elementary, located at 2320 S. Cesar Chavez Road. The caravan will visit 10 historical locations before reaching the school, which was named after the first African-American teacher in the Rio Grande Valley.
The festivities will continue at 7 p.m. at the Edinburg City Hall Courtyard with speakers, an African-American cultural cookoff, food trucks and music.
The week’s events will conclude Sunday with a Juneteenth Sunday Service at Rising Star Baptist Church at 3 p.m.
Castle said the Juneteenth Celebration is further proof of the city’s inclusivity.
“We focus on inclusion, diversity, equity,” Castle said. “We’re not just celebrating Juneteenth, we celebrate the Filipino festival, we celebrate the Diwali within the community, and during Festiva we invite the Chinese community. We want these communities to be celebrated and brought up so that everyone can be aware that these cultures and communities are part of our city and have been part of our city for a very long time.
“We need to value each other and we need to embrace each other.”
