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Celebrate Juneteenth Day on Saturday with in-person and virtual events. (File photo by Allison Dikanovic)
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the host and details of the Bike Your Block event.
This will be the 50th year that Milwaukee celebrates Juneteenth Day, which commemorates the day enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, first heard that the Civil War was over and that they were free.
Juneteenth Day takes place every year on June 19.
While the pandemic affected last year’s celebration, groups throughout Milwaukee are preparing to celebrate both in person and virtually. Check out the list of Juneteenth Day celebrations below.
Did we miss a Juneteenth Day event? Comment below or send an email to amartinez-ortiz@milwaukeenns.org with the subject line ‘Juneteenth Day Event.’
1. Northcott Neighborhood House parade and pageant
Northcott Neighborhood House is celebrating its 50th annual Juneteenth Day. The parade will kick off at North 14th Street and West Atkinson Avenue and head toward West Burleigh Street and North Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, June 19. The opening ceremonies and ensuing festival will take place on King Drive between West Burleigh Street and West North Avenue from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be vendors, entertainment, community resources and food and drink. Attendees are required to wear face masks.
2. Bike Your Block: A Juneteenth Day group bike ride
RISE Cycles is hosting Bike Your Block, a solidarity ride to celebrate Juneteenth Day or Emancipation Day and in honor of Black lives. The group will be meeting at the Sherman Phoenix, 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave., at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 19. To register for the event, click here. Following the bike ride there will be free refreshments, bike clinics, giveaways and more.
DreamBikes will be leading a group ride to Bike Your Block event. Cyclists will be meeting at DreamBikes, 2021A N. Dr. Martin Luther King Dr., to bike over to the Sherman Phoenix at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 19.
3. Safe & Sound’s virtual celebration
Safe & Sound is doing a virtual Juneteenth Day celebration. The event will feature singers, dancers and spoken word artists. It will focus on rebuilding Black Wall Street through youth entrepreneurship. The celebration will be streamed live on Safe & Sound’s Facebook and YouTube pages from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 19.
4. Alice’s Garden’s Juneteenth Day celebration
Alice’s Garden, 2136 N. 21st St., is throwing a Juneteenth Day celebration from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 19. There will be music, food and various activities. Gwen Holland, a genealogist known for her passion in documenting and preserving African American lineages, will be discussing genealogy from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. as part of the festivities. Monica White, the author of “Freedom Farmers,” will be discussing her book from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Alice’s Garden will also be planting Mandela’s garden from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 19. The event is a part of the garden’s Juneteenth Day celebration and its partnership with the Milwaukee Public Museum for the “Mandela: Official Exhibition,” currently on display.
5. Vibez Creative Arts Space Juneteenth Day painting
Vibez Creative Arts Space will be joining the Juneteenth Day celebration at Alice’s Garden, 2136 N. 21st St. The locally owned business will be doing an in-person painting event starting at 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 19. Tickets can be purchased here and cost $13.77. Supplies can be picked up at the Vibez Creative Arts Space, 3536 W. Fond du Lac Ave. after 3 p.m. on Friday, June 18.
6. Juneteenth Day Sickle Cell-Abration blood drives
Versiti is honoring Juneteenth Day and World Sickle Cell Awareness Day with blood drives. According to Versiti, 1 in 13 African American babies are born with the sickle cell trait. There will be three blood drives happening in Wisconsin on Saturday, June 19. Here are the locations and times: Mt. Zion Assembly Healing Temple, 4300 N. Green Bay Ave., from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; New Covenant Missionary Church, 2315 N. 38th St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Greater El Bethel House of Worship Sanctuary, 7841 W. Appleton Ave., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Click the links to register.
The DreamBikes Juneteenth group bike ride is actually sponsored by RISE Cycles. RISE Cycles is an up-and-coming Bike Store that will be located in Sherman Park.
Can’t wait to support Rise Cycles. I wish you success. The last bike I bought was from Dream Bikes for my son. Hopefully my next bike comes from Rise. Milwaukee forever.
Thanks, for this information…I look forward to the addition of Rise Cycles, in Sherman Park.