Lubbock to mark Juneteenth with week of events celebrating freedom

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Lubbock’s week-long Juneteenth celebration will begin Monday with free events open to the public. 

Juneteenth is a federal holiday celebrated on June 19 to commemorate when the last known slaves were freed two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.  

For Ricky Sherifield, an active Juneteenth volunteer in Lubbock, the holiday is an opportunity to celebrate freedom.

“It’s important to keep the tradition alive and ways that we can get the community involved,” Sherifield said. “It was kind of big on my heart, and so I just wanted to make sure we do that.”

The events in Lubbock will be hosted by the RISE UP organization with the help of other local community groups. 

Thursday is the official holiday, and activities will kick off at 2 p.m. at the Patterson Branch Library. Shortly after, a glow-in-the-dark party will take place with a silent disco. 

A day-long celebration is also planned for Saturday beginning with the Juneteenth United Supermarkets Juneteenth parade starting at 10 a.m. and ending with a firework display at Mackenzie Park. 

A detailed description of Thursday through Saturday’s events can be found on Lubbock’s Juneteenth website. 

Both Monday and Friday’s events will be hosted at the TJ Patterson Library. 

At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, local groups will host a game night with events from Black History bingo to music trivia. 

At 6:30 p.m. on Friday, the Knowledge Bowl will kick off where participants can learn and answer questions regarding Black History, social movements, leaders and more. 

Celebrations will continue on June 22 where the community is invited to Gospel Night at 5:30 p.m. at St. John’s Baptist’s church for worship.