Community members from Lawrence and beyond headed downtown Saturday for the annual Juneteenth celebration of Black liberation, heritage and independence.
The national holiday recognizes the day the last enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation — June 19, 1865.
The Lawrence event included a parade, food trucks, Underground Railroad bus tours, a fun run, recognition of community members and essay contest winners and more. High school students participating in the essay contest could submit original essays, poems, songs or raps to interpret this year’s theme, “Standing as one … Love over fear.”
The celebration was set to continue until 8 p.m. Saturday.
Molly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence Times Juneteenth attendees recorded a performance by the Topeka High School drum line.Molly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence Times Sheryl Sanders, housing stabilization case manager at the Lawrence Community Shelter, received an Outstanding Community Member Award for her work for health and wellness in the community.Molly Adams / Lawrence Times For her work in Ecumenical fellowship in the community, Saint Luke AME Church Pastor Rachel Glenn Williams received an Outstanding Community Member award.Molly Adams / Lawrence Times Kelly Barah, a teacher at Free State High School, received an Outstanding Community Member Award for his work with youth and education.Molly Adams / Lawrence Times Free State student Breahna Randall was the second-time third place winner of the Juneteenth essay contest.Molly Adams / Lawrence Times Free State student Joshua Eason was the second place winner of the 2025 Juneteenth essay contest.Molly Adams / Lawrence Times Lawrence High School student Macyn Ramsay was the first place winner of the 2025 Juneteenth essay contest.Molly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence TimesMolly Adams / Lawrence Times
If our local journalism matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
Molly Adams (she/her), photojournalist and news operations coordinator for The Lawrence Times, can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com. Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Hundreds of No Kings protesters gathered in Watson Park Saturday to join a nationwide wave of demonstrations to “reject authoritarianism — and show the world what democracy really looks like,” according to organizers.
Downtown Lawrence Inc. announced the return of Midsummer Night on Mass for the third year in a row with a slate of shopping deals, sidewalk entertainment, movie screenings and more coming up next week.
Lawrence writer Tessa Gratton works on all their books for multiple years, but they’ve been thinking about their newest work, “The Mercy Makers,” since the 2000s. The epic fantasy untangles themes of justice, complicity and the greater good.
The Lawrence community will celebrate Juneteenth with events on Saturday, but the federal holiday falls on Thursday, June 19. Here’s a quick roundup of closures, changes and more.
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times 
Lane Rozin/Lawrence Times 
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times 
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times 
Check out was real simple, can't wait for the tote bag