Juneteenth Celebration

The Village is hosting its annual Juneteenth community cookout from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 14 at the Village Hall South Lawn.

Main Stage Performances

Jesse White Tumblers
Kuumba Kids Cultural Showcase
JKed
J Grant Experience – Soul, Funk & Live Band
DJ Camo – Crowd favorites & dance session

Attractions

Family Fun, Face Painting, Drumming, Live Music, Black Vendor Market, and more

Food Vendors

BBQ from Robinson’s Ribs & Q’s BBQ
Ice Cream from Scream
Vegan options from Chicago Style Vegan
Hot Dogs & Hamburgers by Don’t Forget Your Lunchbox
Soul Food from Passion Eats Catering

Black Business & Community Resource Fair: The Juneteenth Cookout will feature a Black Business & Community Resource Fair. Click here for more information and to register.

Grab your helmet and your water bottle and ride your bicycle over to Oak Park River Forest Museum for a bicycle tour led by Executive Director Frank Lipo on Thursday, June 19. The tour will meet at 6 p.m. in front of the museum, 129 Lake St. and is expected to last about two hours.

The tour will stop at several of the sites included in Black History Bike Tour booklet, including Village Hall, Julian Middle School and the former Mt. Carmel Baptist Church.

To RSVP, send an email to oprfhistorymatters@sbcglobal.net . This will also allow us to contact to you in case we have to cancel the tour due to inclement weather.  Though we prefer to have an estimate of how many riders we’ll need to accommodate, we expect to be able to accept people who show up the day of the event.

If you can’t make this guided tour, you can view the Oak Park Black History Bike Tour: People and Places that Matter on our website, www.oprfmuseum.org. This self-guided tour was created by OPRF Museum in celebration of Oak Park’s first municipal holiday for Juneteenth in 2021.

Juneteenth Black History Bike Tour

The Village's annual Juneteenth celebration was held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 11 and included a special flag-raising ceremony at Village Hall:

Live Performances & Special Guests

Saxophonist Skinny Williams
African Drumming by Hasani
Black National Anthem by Shiri Clay
Oratorical Contest Winners – Jubilee Speaks Essay Awards

Attractions

Community networking and refreshments
Acknowledgment of local leaders and elders

Food Vendors

Tee Tee’s Sweets
Tastee Rolls
T&JJ’s Eatery & Luxury Venue

Juneteenth has long been recognized as an important day among many Oak Parkers, and the Village Board made it official in 2020 when it voted unanimously to support a proclamation to formally observe the holiday every June 19.

Juneteenth has since been recognized as both a state and federal holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when a U.S. Army general read orders in Galveston, Texas that all previously enslaved people were free.

Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed them almost two and a half years earlier, and the American Civil War had largely ended with the defeat of the Confederate States in April, Texas was the most remote of the slave states, with a low presence of Union troops, so enforcement of the proclamation had been slow and inconsistent.

Through the years since, Juneteenth has offered an opportunity celebrate freedom and equal rights in the United States.

Learn more about Juneteenth in this 2003 segment from VOP-TV in which Community Relations Director Cedric Melton provides background about the holiday: