The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
28°F
Current Conditions
Fog
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Spokane celebrates Juneteenth: Here are several events to be held this weekend

Lisa Gardner, spokesperson for the City of Spokane (left) and Betsy Wilkerson, City of Spokane councilwoman, deliver closing remarks at Praise in the Park on the Sunday of Juneteenth weekend on June 20, 2021, at Liberty Park in Spokane. The events last year, conducted by pastors from a variety of area churches, marked the first Praise in the Park that Juneteenth had been federally recognized as a national holiday. (Libby Kamrowski/ THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Garrett Cabeza garrettc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5135

Several Spokane organizations are hosting Juneteenth events this weekend and Monday.

The federal holiday, which is Monday, commemorates the effective end of slavery in the U.S. Celebrated June 19 each year. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.

Saturday

The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 500 S. Stone St., is celebrating Juneteenth from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with live music, food, giveaways, games and more. The event is free. The center’s Facebook page said the city of Spokane will provide information on city job openings.

The Carl Maxey Center is hosting a free family Juneteenth movie night at 3 p.m. at The Magic Lantern Theatre, 25 W. Main Ave. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella will be played.

The Inland Northwest Juneteenth Coalition will host the Providence Father’s Day Feast at 4:30 p.m. at Spokane Community College’s Lair Student Center, 1810 N. Greene St. The dinner is free to fathers and their families.

The coalition hosted the 2023 Pillar Awards Friday night at the Fox Theater in downtown Spokane. The awards celebrated those who help uplift the Black community in Spokane.

The Learning Project earned the award in the business category, Fresh Soul won the nonprofit category, New Hope Baptist Church won the church/religious organization category and Kiantha Duncan, a community leader and activist, won the individual category.

Sandy Williams was posthumously presented the “Heartwood Award,” given to an elder in the Black community who has been a meaningful part of the community’s foundation and identity, according to the coalition’s website.

Williams died in a plane crash last summer in the Puget Sound. She was a civil rights activist who founded the Carl Maxey Center and publisher of the Black Lens newspaper.

Sunday

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture is hosting “Juneteenth: A Celebration of Resistance” from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at its auditorium, 2316 W. 1st Ave. The museum will show a 30-minute film, which will run on a loop all day, that highlights June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform slaves of their freedom and the end of the Civil War.

Monday

River Park Square will host Spokane-based Jazz Quintet for a special pop-up Jazz performance from 5:30 to 7 p.m., according to a River Park Square news release. The quintet will include Rachel Bade-McMurphy on saxophone and vocals, Jared Hall on trumpet, Jake Svendsen on piano, Kai Wagner on bass and Brendan McMurphy on drums. The concert is free in the mall’s atrium on the first level.

Spokane Community Against Racism is celebrating from 3 to 7 p.m. at Underhill Park, 2910 E. Hartson Ave., with music, games and food.