Juneteenth is a Black/African American celebration of family, freedom and liberation celebrated annually on the 19th of June. While the Emancipation Proclamation declared people who were enslaved to be free by January 1, 1863, many African Americans did not receive the news or its enforcement until June 19, 1865. Juneteenth is another opportunity for us to celebrate as a community and honor the hard work and sacrifice of Black people who have been fighting for liberation for centuries. We still have a ways to go until we see equity for Black Americans and members of the African Diaspora.
Virtual Juneteenth Activities at U-M
2021 U-M Juneteenth Symposium
Celebrating Black Joy, Hope, and Healing
June 14 – 18
U-M’s inaugural campus-wide Juneteenth Symposium will explore the theme of “Celebrating Black Joy, Hope, and Healing.” A partnership between U-M and the Ann Arbor Branch of the NAACP, this Juneteenth observance aims to celebrate and recognize the liberation of all Black people from slavery, made official by the emancipation on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.


This event will bring together the U-M and Ann Arbor communities virtually to underscore the importance of Juneteenth and to ensure that all students, staff, faculty, and residents feel a deep sense of belonging.


Event Co-Sponsors: Rackham’s Strategic Action Leadership Team, NAACP Ann Arbor Branch, Association of Black Social Work Students, Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, and Center for Social Solutions. In Collaboration with U-M's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and CEW+ Women of Color Task Force
WCTF Juneteenth Celebration
Friday, June 18, 2021
8:30 AM - 1:30 PM (EDT)

Join the Women of Color Task Force for its second annual Juneteenth observance event. This year’s theme is “Improving Intercultural Race Relations to Develop Intercultural Solidarity.” Panel discussions include:
 
  • Panel 1: Learning from Cross-Cultural Experiences: A Global Perspective
  • Panel 2: Toward a Culturally Inclusive Workplace
  • Keynote Program: Improving Intercultural Race Relations to Develop Intercultural Solidarity (including panelist, Dr. Lorraine Gutiérrez, SSW Associate Dean for Educational Programs)
U-M Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Juneteenth Celebration
Friday, June 18, 2021
1 - 2 PM (EDT)
 
EECS invites you to its second Juneteenth celebration, which will include:
 
  • Performance of the Black National Anthem
  • Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation
  • Recognition of Dr. Willie Hobbs Moore, the first Black woman at Michigan to earn a BS and MS in electrical engineering (‘58 and ‘61), and the first Black woman in the country to earn a PhD in physics
  • Panel discussion on the representation of Black students in STEM
William L. Clements Library Bookworm Conversation with Author Crystal Webster
Friday, June 18, 2021
10-11 AM (EDT)
 
In her new book, “Beyond the Boundaries of Childhood: African American Childhood in the Antebellum North,” Crystal Lynn Webster argues that young African Americans were frequently left outside the 19th century's emerging constructions of both race and childhood. Clements Library Director Paul Erickson will join Webster in this conversation.

This episode of the Bookworm coincides with the celebration of Juneteenth and a growing national recognition of understudied histories and experiences of African Americans in the past.
LSA Center for Social Solutions:
20 Things Everyone Should Know about Slavery
Friday, June 18, 2021
2 - 3:30 PM (EDT)
Panelists will seek to generate a discussion about how historical knowledge might contribute solutions to the problems of contemporary expressions of human slavery and offer new pathways to democracy and freedom.
University of Michigan School of Social Work
Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

ssw-dei-office@umich.edu