Stockton Juneteenth returns for its 50th year celebration of freedom with a gala and the annual celebration this weekend.
This year’s Stockton Juneteenth will return on Saturday, June 20, at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds at 1658 S. Airport Way in Stockton for its 50th year celebration. The event is presented by the San Joaquin Juneteenth Foundation.
“This organization was started back in 1976 as something that the county came together and helped put together, and then in 2019, it actually started the process to be its own nonprofit. It feels really great to be celebrating something so historical and basically passed on from the elders that started this in 1976 …” said Danelle Shelton, president of the San Joaquin Juneteenth Foundation. “It means a lot to be a part of a historic organization to be celebrating and honoring African American leadership and history.”
The holiday commemorates when the last Black slaves of the Confederacy were ordered free upon the arrival of Union troops on June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.
The foundation’s Juneteenth celebrations began on June 8 with the first session of the Youth Matters Arts Matter. The second session kicked off on June 15. A preliminary round of Family Feud was also scheduled for June 15, with the final round scheduled during Saturday’s Juneteenth celebration at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds.
Saturday’s event is free for the community. Shelton said Family Feud is a new addition this year, where vendors will have the opportunity to participate and win prizes.
The grand prize will be $500, a flyer states.
“It’s very important that we remember our history, remember where we came from, so that we won’t repeat it and again,” Shelton said.
Shelton said it’s important to attend the event to support one another and learn about the organizations in the community.
“It’s so important for us to come together and support each other, not compete, support and come together as a community. Learn to work together better and meet some new organizations,” Shelton said. “That’s another reason why we are celebrating some of the black organizations that are in Stockton, because so many people don’t know about them.”
The first gala
While awards are not something new to the foundation’s Juneteenth celebration, this is the first year that the foundation will be hosting a special gala and awards ceremony, Shelton said.
The Golden Gala 50th Anniversary Honors & Awards will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, June 19, at Victory in Praise at 2029 E. Harding Way in Stockton.
“We wanted the people celebrated to be able to not only receive their awards, but to be congratulated in front of all of their peers and whatnot, and to be very special because we didn’t make it this far just by ourselves, we always had the support of a lot of the other black organizations in the community,” Shelton said. “The elders usually held dual roles in different organizations. We will be uplifting multiple organizations and giving them awards.”
The gala’s dress attire is formal black and gold, a flyer states.
“If you want to learn any more about your history, you want to make sure you come to the gala because it’s going to be a lot of history presented there and (an) opportunity to connect with other black organizations,” Shelton said.
Shelton said they will be mentioning many of “the very first of African American History in San Joaquin County.” One example she mentioned was Nancy Young, the first Black female mayor of Tracy.
Shelton added it’s important to get in contact with the elders as “they hold so much history.”
Tickets are on sale for the gala for $53.52, but there is a two-for-one deal, so guests pay the price of $28.52. Tickets can be purchased at eventbrite.com.
To learn more about the San Joaquin Juneteenth Foundation, visit stocktonjuneteenth.org.
Record reporter Angelaydet Rocha covers business and community news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at arocha@recordnet.com or on Twitter @AngelaydetRocha. To support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Stockton Juneteenth returns for 50th year with a gala and Family Feud
Reporting by Angelaydet Rocha, The Stockton Record / The Record
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By Angelaydet Rocha, The Stockton Record | USA TODAY Network
