Palm Springs Juneteenth event on Saturday a time for celebration, contemplation
Look for an array of fun educational and cultural activities, sports, games, food, and live entertainment. Everything is free.
Organizers of the annual Juneteenth celebration in the city are hard at work assuring the event will be both joyous and thought-provoking.
The news: June 19 (Juneteenth) represents Independence Day for African Americans. People across the country recognize and honor this day by celebrating the June 19, 1865 emancipation of people who were enslaved.
- Palm Springs is one of the few cities in Southern California to sponsor a Juneteenth celebration and the only city in the Coachella Valley hosting an event. This year’s celebration is one day earlier than Juneteenth, on Saturday, June 18.
- While this year marks the third official event in the city, members of the Coachella Valley’s Black community have been gathering informally for decades to mark the day.
Zoom in: Look for an array of fun educational and cultural activities, sports, games, food, and live entertainment. Everything is free.
When/where: The event takes places at James O. Jessie Desert Highland Unity Center, 480 West Tramview Rd., from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 18.
💭 Our take: Even if you don’t attend Saturday’s event, we think you should contemplate important questions event organizers posed on their flyers: “Are we really free? Or is it a continuous fight for our freedom?”