Memphis celebrating Juneteenth since ‘before it was cool’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — This weekend kicks off a celebration of freedom with Juneteenth.

The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 and just last year, became a legal, paid holiday across Tennessee. But Memphians have been celebrating for decades. 

WREG visited one celebration in the Medical District that was already packed with people. 

“I always tell people we were doing Juneteenth in Memphis before it was cool and before it was a hashtag,” said festival organizer Dr. Telisa Franklin.

She has organized Memphis’ Juneteenth festival for 17 years.

“I have challenges when I see people celebrating and they don’t know the origin of why we should be celebrating,” Franklin said.

That’s why Franklin says the festival originally started three decades ago, and the emphasis has always been on education.

She explained that Juneteenth celebrates June 19, 1865, when the last enslaved people in the U.S. learned they were free.

“It was in 1863 the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, but somehow the people in Galveston, Texas didn’t get the memo,” she said. “It was on June 19, 1865 that all slaves were free.” 

The two-day event kicked off today at Health Sciences Park — the same park where Nathan Bedford Forrest’s statue was removed in 2021. He was a former Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader. 

“Now we are celebrating, so we are changing the trajectory of spaces in our community,” said Franklin, who also is running as a Democrat for a Tennessee House seat. “My vision is to see everybody celebrate Juneteenth all across our city, that we’re all working as one.”    

Festival and information

Admission to the Memphis Juneteenth Festival is free, from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. There will also be a freedom walk Saturday at 8 a.m.

For more information about the festival or other Juneteenth events: https://www.juneteenthfreedommemphis.com/