The event included live music and a dessert raffle. The evening concluded with a walk from Bressler Park to Freedom Park as a tribute to Opal Lee who walked from Texas to Washington, D. C. to advocate for June 19 to be recognized as a holiday. Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, marking the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to announce that the last enslaved people in the United States were free.
Tracy Henschke
Among the featured speakers this year were Black Caucus members Jo-El Chiles (pictured) and Michael Lee.
