On Juneteenth, New York City continues to offer a wide array of events to commemorate June 19, 1865 — the day U.S. Army soldiers brought news of emancipation to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas — more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery in the United States.
Also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth has been celebrated in Texas for decades. It was finally recognized as a national holiday in 2021 when President Biden signed it into law.
Here are some highlights of 2024 Juneteenth events throughout the city (and even what to watch on TV):
Juneteenth at The Children’s Museum of Manhattan
The museum kicks of its day-long programming celebrating Black liberation, resilience, and joy with a perfect Juneteenth activity for the entire family, especially the little ones.
From 10 a.m.to 12:45 pm, visitors can help create the Free To Be Me Mural, a community mural inspired by painters like Derrick Adams, Kerry James Marshall, and Amy Sherald, who painted former first lady Michelle Obama’s official portrait. Other activities include a reading of Brad Meltzer’s children’s book, “I am Harriet Tubman (Ordinary People Change the World).” Attendees can also learn to create lantern suncatchers, which are a symbol of hope, strength, and generosity to honor Harriet Tubman’s impact on American history.
Max Roach Way Street Naming Ceremony
Late jazz musician Max Roach will have a street named in his honor in Bedford Stuyvesant, where he was raised. Highly regarded by his peers as “the greatest of all jazz drummers,” Roach died in 2007 at 83.
Alongside contemporaries such as Charles Mingus, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, the prolific percussionist is recognized as “one of the founding fathers of the modernist style known as bebop.” Brooklyn City Councilmember Chi Ossé will emcee the event, which will feature performances, special guest speakers and family members.
Free. 11 a.m. (Northeast corner of Greene Ave. and Marcy Ave.)
“Broadway Celebrates Juneteenth”
This year, the Broadway League’s Black to Broadway initiative will have some extra special magic sprinkled onto its free outdoor concert.
“Aladdin” star Michael James Scott will host the 90-minute event where the good witches from the land of Oz come face to face. Deborah Cox, who is currently portraying Glinda in “The Wiz,” is scheduled to present the Juneteenth Legacy Award to Phylicia Rashad, who understudied the role in the 1975 original production.
Cox will also perform her timeless hit “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here” before sharing the stage with Tony winner Rashad.
Fresh off of their buzzy Tony performances, cast members from “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” “Suffs” and “Water for Elephants” are slated to hit the stage, alongside the kids of Young Gifted and Broadway.
American Sign Language interpretation will also be provided at the fully-inclusive event.
Free, 11 a.m. at Duffy Square in Times Square (7th Ave and West 47th St.)
The Juneteenth Evensong Service
The “inherent spirit of unity, hope, and liberation” will be celebrated at Morningside Heights’ impressive Gothic Revival cathedral.
The late afternoon service will feature an eclectic blend of music including the kora (a West African string instrument), spoken word, hymns, ancestral chants and the music of African-American spirituals pioneer H. T. Burleigh.
Featured artists include Malong Jubate, Chelsea Randall-Kora, Chelsi Clarke, Kofi Hayford, Larry Marshall, Anthony Turner, The Diocesan Choir of New York and Poet Laureate Bettina Wilkerson.
Visitors can also take in iconographer Mark Doox‘s powerful oil and gold lead painting, “Our Lady, Mother of Ferguson, and All Those Killed by Gun Violence,” which is currently on display in the Cathedral’s Crusaders Bay.
Free. 5 p.m. The Cathedral of St. John The Divine. (1047 Amsterdam Ave.)
Carnegie Hall and Healing of the Nations Foundation’s Annual Juneteenth Celebration
Grammy winner Gregory Porter, whose music eloquently fuses jazz, soul, R&B, and gospel, will headline Carnegie Hall’s free annual event. Hosted by Reverend Dr. James A. Forbes, Jr. and emceed by Broadway great Norm Lewis, the concert will feature performances by actor, singer, and writer Daniel Beaty, Broadway conductor and multi-instrumentalist Joseph Joubert, Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble and The Adrian Dunn Singers.
“As we gather in Carnegie Hall and around the nation for a joyous celebration, we should join our ancestors in their song of hope to bring better days ahead for this nation and all nations of the earth,” Forbes said.
Free. 7 p.m. at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage (881 7th Ave.)
“Songs of the Living: Freedom Songs”
Toshi Reagon‘s BIGLovely band and the intergenerational Songs of the Living Community Choir and special guests will perform music Reagon grew up listening to during the Southern Freedom Movement. (Her mother, Bernice Johnson Reagon, founded the Grammy winning all-woman, African-American a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock.)
Organizers described the Lincoln Center “Summer for the City” show as a “a collaborative concert that first and foremost acknowledges the ongoing fight for justice and equality that is our necessary struggle and birthright.”
Free. 7:30 p.m. Damrosch Park (Amsterdam Ave. and W. 62 St.)
Juneteenth at Red Rooster Harlem
Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson is serving up special dishes and good vibes in commemoration of Juneteenth at his popular Harlem restaurant. DJ Vaun will spin from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. before Harmony Bartz and her live band perform a mix of jazz, blues, neo-soul, R&B, and funk from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Chef Samuelsson’s menu includes a “No Meat for you…Chopped Cheese,” a vegan take on the bodega staple and the Barack Obama-inspired entree “#44”, which includes braised short rib, black-eyed pea and okra stew, pikliz, and crispy onions. End the meal with the “Honey in Harlem” dessert: A blueberry-lemon tart with a honey drizzle and bourbon whipped cream.
No cover. Beginning at 1 p.m. Red Rooster Harlem (310 Lenox Ave)
Juneteenth special TV programming:
Juneteenth on TCM: Turner Classic Movies
The classic movie channel will showcase the classice of 1970s Black cinema starting at 8 p.m. with the 1976 Los Angeles-based comedy “Car Wash.”
1975’s “Mahogany” follows at 10 p.m., starring Diana Ross asd an ambitious Chicago fashion designer who becomes an international supermodel. While the Motown diva doesn’t sing in the film, the soundtrack’s theme “Do You Know Where You’re Going To?” has become a timeless love song.
At midnight, the programming gets a little grittier with 1972’s “Super Fly,” Gordon Parks Jr.’s groundbreaking Blaxploitation flick starring Ron O’Neal as a street pharmaceutical entrepreneur with lofty plans to leave the profession.
Finally, 2:00 a.m. brings a real treat for the nocturnal: 1976’s “Sparkle,” about a Harlem based singing group in the 1950s. It stars Irene Cara, Lonette McKee, Dawn Smith, Phillip Michael Thomas, Dorian Harewood and Mary Alice. Co-written by Joel Schumacher, the low-budget film , said to be the inspiration for the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”, was a breakout for Cara, who would eventually star in “Fame” and win an Oscar and Grammy for “Flashdance… What a Feeling.”
Beginning at 8 p.m. on TCM.
“Juneteenth: Celebrating Freedom and Legacy”
CNN anchor Victor Blackwell helms this hour-long special featuring musical performances and chats with EGOT winner John Legend, R&B singer and entrepreneur Patti LaBelle and Motown great Smokey Robinson.
Commemorating the 159th anniversary of Juneteenth, the “First of All” host interviews Ms. Opal Lee, known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” who will discuss the holiday’s place in society and her future hopes for it.
10 p.m. Airing on CNN, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and Max.
