June 17, 2021, East Orange, NJ: Mayor Ted R. Green, the East Orange City Council and the Department of Recreation & Cultural Affairs, in conjunction with The Oranges and Maplewood NAACP, will commemorate Juneteenth with a Flag Raising featuring Noted Historian and Pan African Educator Dr. Leonard Jeffries. 

The event will take place on Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 1pm at East Orange City Hall Plaza. All are welcome to attend. COVID-19 protocols will be enforced and attendees are asked to wear masks. 

“We are so proud to celebrate and honor the legacy of Juneteenth. The holiday is symbolic, but the intent behind it is to celebrate the achievements and progress of African American everywhere,” said Mayor Green. “In the words of the great poet Maya Angelou, ‘And Still We Rise.’ The history of African American people in this country is one that is filled with stories of resilience, perseverance and beating the odds when the cards are stacked against you. I am excited to have Dr. Jeffries as our guest speaker who I know will provide insight and knowledge that many of us never learned in school.” 

Dr. Jeffries is a former professor of Black Studies at the City College of New York, part of the City University of New York (CUNY). Born and raised in Newark, NJ, Dr. Jeffries is known for his Pan-African Afrocentrism views that the role of African people in history and the accomplishments of African Americans are far more important than commonly held.

In June 2020, the East Orange City Council, under the leadership of Chairman Christopher James and sponsored by Third Ward Councilman Vernon Pullins, Jr., passed legislation designating the observance of Juneteenth as an official holiday in the City of East Orange. 

The city’s first Flag Raising was held last June to commemorate the historic event, which celebrates the date, June 19, 1865, as the day that Union Army’s Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced the end of slavery. The declaration came almost two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln announced the Emancipation Proclamation

WHO:              Mayor Ted Green, East Orange City Council, The Oranges and Maplewood NAACP and Dr. Leonard Jeffries

WHAT:           East Orange Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony

WHEN:            Saturday, June 19, 2021@1PM  

WHERE:         East Orange City Hall (44 City Hall Plaza)  

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