Program Type:
Celebration Month, Featured, Community Engagement, Cultural Appreciation, Performing ArtsAge Group:
All Ages, Elementary School Age, Middle School Age, Teens, Emerging Adults, Adults, Older Adults- Registration is encouraged for this event.
- Registration is no longer available for this event.
Program Description
Event Details
Celebrate Juneteenth Freedom Day at the Central Library with our Juneteenth Jubilee Kickoff. We'll have live music performances and poetry in our courtyard, along with a resource fair with local community organizations.
This holiday commemorates the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans in Texas on June 19, 1865. Juneteenth is significant because it celebrates the resilience of Black American people, their achievements, culture, and liberation. San Diego Public Library is celebrating this great day in history with a day of festivity and music that reflects the incredible contributions of Black Americans.
Kickoff Schedule:
12:00pm-3:30pm: Voter Registration and Resource Fair with local community groups.
1pm: Opening Libation and Poetry Readings from Paola Capó-García, San Diego Poet Laureate and the Back-Alley Poets featuring Samira Hassan, Fatuma Fadhil, and Zamzam Fadhil. Free poetry zines available while supplies last.
1:30pm-2:30pm: Dennis Gittens Jazz Duo Celebrate the heritage of jazz music with a live performance by the Dennis Gittens Jazz Duo. Gittens has developed a smooth, soulful vocal style that is deeply rooted in the jazz tradition and heavily influenced by artists Johnny Hartman, Sarah Vaughan and Frank Sinatra.
3pm: Poetry Readings continued.
3:30pm-5pm: Blacktronika: Afrofuturism in Electronic Music with King Britt in the auditorium. Award-winning composer, producer, performer and curator King Britt presents an informative and genre-breaking music travelogue honoring innovators of color who have shaped electronic music’s landscape, spanning genres like Chicago House, Detroit Techno, and Drum & Bass. King Britt is a Professor in Computer Music at UCSD and a leading authority on Afrofuturism in music who has collaborated with a wide array of iconic artists and creators including De La Soul, Madlib, John Legend, and director Michael Mann. Britt will be accompanied by special guest artist, graphic designer, and creative director Erwin Hines of Future Is Color.
ALL DAY: Visit our Barrier Breakers: From Jackie to Pumpsie Exhibit on the 8th floor- now extended through 6/20!
Developed by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, MO, this exhibit tells the story of the Negro Leagues and the strong-willed, dedicated athletes, who simply refused to accept the notion that they were unfit to share in the joys of our national pastime.