June 20 event open to campus, community

RIVER FALLS – The University of Wiscon –

sin-River Falls will com – memorate Juneteenth with a lunch and learn from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, June 20.

The learning session is free and open to all in the Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Oce, 269 Rod – li Hall. At the interactive event, a game of Kahoot will be played with trivia about Juneteenth and a brief dis – cussion of the history of the day and Black history, said Derek Bradley, UWRF director of Diversity, Inclu – sion and Belonging. A light lunch will also be available.

Juneteenth commem – orates African American Emancipation Day, cele –

brates freedom and empha –

sizes education and achieve – ment. It is the anniversary date of the June 19, 1865 announcement of Union Army Gen. Gordon Grang – er proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas, which was the last state of the Confederacy with insti – tutional slavery. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally cel – ebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

General Order No. 3, which Granger read to the people of Texas, began with: "The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore exist – ing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer." Juneteenth today cele – brates African American freedom and achievement while encouraging contin – uous self-development and respect for all cultures.

"It is a day we need to acknowledge as Americans, just like we acknowledge July 4, 1776," Bradley said. "I just feel there is so much history we don't know about in our nation that we need to know about." Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Pride Specialist Alan Toussaint agreed.

"It's important for any – one to learn history to help understand the past in order to understand the present and to change things for the future," Toussaint said. "Part of the goal of having special events like June – teenth is to help students expand their education be – yond the classrooms and relate that experience back to their classrooms." Submitted by UW-River Falls