Sunday is Juneteenth National Independence Day, which became a national and state holiday in 2021.
Juneteenth commemorates the date, June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and read General Order No. 3 to some of the last people still living in bondage in the United States.
South Portland raised a Juneteenth flag, designed by Ben Haith in 1997, on Friday in front of City Hall. It is a red, white and blue flag with a star in the center. The colors are a purposeful choice by the designer – a reminder that enslaved people and their descendants are Americans, and all Americans have a common bond of freedom. Michele McDonald/Staff Photographer
“All slaves are free,” the order declared, prompting a celebration that has been repeated annually in many Black communities for more than a century.
The news came nearly two months after Brevet Major General Joshua Chamberlain of Maine oversaw the surrender of the Confederate infantry at Appomattox, and more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Government offices, banks and some businesses will be closed on Monday to mark the official holiday, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Black Independence Day.
Here are some Juneteenth events scheduled on Sunday:
• “What Does Juneteenth Mean?” a celebration showcasing music, art and culture by the Brunswick School District, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Lower Mall, Brunswick.
• Biddeford Juneteenth Celebration, Mechanics Park, 1-3 p.m., speakers, light refreshments, music.
• South Portland Juneteenth Commemoration, Mill Creek Park, 1-4 p.m., speakers, music, kids corner, ice cream truck.
• Portland Juneteenth Celebration, Congress Square Park, 1-4 p.m., art, music, spoken word performances.
• Juneteenth Free Day, Portland Museum of Art, including “Brother to Brother,” a film by Black writer-director Rodney Evans, in-person screening, 2 p.m., 7 Congress Square.
• Juneteenth Freedom Celebration, 200 Anderson St., Portland, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., food trucks, arts, culture, music.
• “Maine’s Black History,” a conversation with historians Seth Goldstein and Bob Greene, 4:15 p.m., South Portland Public Library.
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