The spike in coronavirus cases shut down an in-person celebration of Juneteenth in Tucson on Saturday, but it couldn’t drown out the voices of organizers spreading the message of the event’s importance.
The Barbea Williams Performance Co. hosted an hourslong, livestreamed event to mark the 50th annual celebration in Tucson. It featured singers, musicians and speakers relaying the message of Black Lives Matter to viewers.
Barbea Williams, the company’s artistic director, told viewers the event was a time to “enjoy, reflect and think about what this day means to us, not only 50 years ago here in Tucson, but also 1865.”
An 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence was hosted for George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives rally on…
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, but it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved black people until June 19 of that year, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Texas.
Usually held in Tucson Parks and Recreation areas or the Dunbar Center, the local event brings thousands out to experience black culture and history, while black entrepreneurs display what they offer to the community.
Speakers Saturday called for action during a time of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have swept the world.
“This is the time to make some real change, because a lot of the things that I hear people saying today are some of the same things I heard when I was a young person,” Williams said.
“So it’s time now that we make some real change and really open up doors in a way that we’ve never done before.”
First taking place in Tucson in 1970, the event’s origins are attributed to the families of Morris Doty and Bobby Ray Dixon, who lived in the “A” Mountain area. The first event was held at Vista del Pueblo Park, not far from the base of the mountain, according to a Tucson Juneteenth Facebook post.
Event organizers once called it a “little neighborhood get-together,” according to Arizona Daily Star archives, but it grew in the following years into an even more inclusive event providing the community with historical presentations and exhibits, music and dance, and vendors selling food, arts and crafts.
During Saturday’s event, Tucson’s downtown area was filled with people of all ages painting Stone Avenue to display “Black Lives Matter” in colorful painted letters. The same words were displayed on a banner across the top of City Hall on Friday.
“It’s important that we work with our intergenerational community. They have something to teach us, and we have something to remind them of in terms of who we are,” Williams said.
Today’s top pics: Rayshard Brooks Protests and more
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Britain Shops Reopen
People walk with bags after shopping at the Selfridges department store in London, Monday, June 15, 2020. After three months of being closed under coronavirus restrictions, shops selling fashion, toys and other non-essential goods are being allowed to reopen across England for the first time since the country went into lockdown in March.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
German tourists arrive at the beach of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Italy Reopening
People sit in a cinema in Milan, Italy, Monday, June 15, 2020. Movie theaters are reopening across the country after three months of closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
A German tourist takes a sunbath at the Riu Concordia hotel swimming pool in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX America Protests Atlanta
People march down the street towards the Georgia state capitol to protest against the mistreatment of black people and to press for policy change, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Atlanta. The NAACP March to the Capitol Monday coincided with the restart of the Georgia 2020 General Assembly. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
APTOPIX Belgium EU US Foreign Ministers
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell listens to questions during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers by videoconference at the European Council building in Brussels on Monday, June 15, 2020. The talks, which included a videoconference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focused on China, developments in the Middle East and trans-Atlantic relations. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Bolivia Protest
A man wearing a traditional "Morenada" mask protests the government's recent closing of the Culture Ministry during a demonstration demanding it reopens in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, June 15, 2020. The government has closed the ministries of culture, sports, and communication, citing the need to cut costs, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
Two children look at a swing set, sealed to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
A resident listens to instructions from his home as members of a city health brigade explain ways to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. The capital is rolling out the reactivation of some businesses and activities over a two-week period, starting with the lifting of some driving restrictions and reopening some metro stops. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Panama
A health ministry worker takes a sample from a resident as his team goes from home to home to administer fast COVID-19 tests in the Nuevo Tocumen neighborhood of Panama City, Monday, June 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
APTOPIX Trump
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable about America's seniors, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Hilario Chavez, the husband of the late 72-year-old Monica Lagos, pushes her coffin into a hearse outside San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Venezuela Water Shortage
Buckets, some of them filled with water provided by a government tanker truck, stand in the living room of a house in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 15, 2020. Water shortages have continued to deepen in Venezuela at a time when the threat of the coronavirus makes washing hands even more critical. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Cemetery workers wearing protective gear against the new coronavirus, walk after carrying the coffin of 72-year-old Monica Lagos to her grave at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Relatives carry white balloons to the funeral of 72-year-old Monica Lagos at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives mourn at the funeral of 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega during his burial at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives bury 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega as a band plays at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico Reopening
Commuters ride down an escalator at the Santa Anita stop of the Line 4 subway, several stations of which had been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Mexico City expanded public transport options as part of the reopening process, Monday, June 15, 2020. Although the numbers of infected continue to rise, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Monday urged citizens not to fear the virus and to start coming out of their homes to reactivate the economy. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
APTOPIX America Protests Conquistador
Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, following the shooting of a man during a protest over a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. A confrontation erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the statue before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.” One protester repeatedly swung a pickax at the base of the statue. Moments later a few gunshots could be heard down the street and people started yelling that someone had been shot. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A swan searches for food on the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A rowing crew trains on the Avon River at sunset in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak China
A commuter wearing a goggle and protective face mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus sits on the seat of a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. China reported several dozen more coronavirus infections Tuesday as it increased testing and lockdown measures in parts of the capital to control what appeared to be its largest outbreak in more than two months. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
Smoke rises in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, seen from Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. South Korea says that North Korea has exploded an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the tense Korean border. (Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Japan Daily Life
A visitor enjoys the swing ride at the Yomiuriland amusement park in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. The park has been closed since the end of March due to the new coronavirus, has taken measures to prevent infections and reopened limited attractions. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
APTOPIX Hong Kong China Protest
Pro-Hong Kong demonstrators shout slogans during a protest at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped that the opposition would not "demonize and stigmatize" the new national security law as doing do would mean pitting themselves against the people of Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
A cat sits beneath a communist flag in a waiting shelter belonging to workers affiliated to a left party trade union in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
Fishermen repair and clear their nets after returning from a round of fishing in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
A South Korean army soldier patrols at the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom border village in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea. Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just inside its border in an act Tuesday that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy with the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
APTOPIX India Kashmir Daily Life
Kashmiri boys play on a makeshift swing on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Set in the Himalayas at 5,600 feet above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley surrounded by snowy mountain ranges with over 100 lakes dotting its highlands and plains. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Thailand Reopening
An employee wears a protective face mask and shield at Yoyo Land, an indoor amusement center in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Daily life in the capital resumes to normal as the government continues to ease restrictions related to running business and activities that were imposed weeks ago to combat the spread of COVID-19. Thailand reported no local transmissions of the coronavirus in the past 3 weeks. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak India
A health worker in protective suit listens to people standing in a queue for COVID 19 test at Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. India is the fourth hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world after the U.S., Russia and Brazil. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Virtual Juneteenth celebration gives glimpse into black culture, community in Tucson
The spike in coronavirus cases shut down an in-person celebration of Juneteenth in Tucson on Saturday, but it couldn’t drown out the voices of organizers spreading the message of the event’s importance.
The Barbea Williams Performance Co. hosted an hourslong, livestreamed event to mark the 50th annual celebration in Tucson. It featured singers, musicians and speakers relaying the message of Black Lives Matter to viewers.
Barbea Williams, the company’s artistic director, told viewers the event was a time to “enjoy, reflect and think about what this day means to us, not only 50 years ago here in Tucson, but also 1865.”
An 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence was hosted for George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives rally on…
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, but it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved black people until June 19 of that year, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Texas.
Usually held in Tucson Parks and Recreation areas or the Dunbar Center, the local event brings thousands out to experience black culture and history, while black entrepreneurs display what they offer to the community.
Speakers Saturday called for action during a time of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have swept the world.
“This is the time to make some real change, because a lot of the things that I hear people saying today are some of the same things I heard when I was a young person,” Williams said.
“So it’s time now that we make some real change and really open up doors in a way that we’ve never done before.”
First taking place in Tucson in 1970, the event’s origins are attributed to the families of Morris Doty and Bobby Ray Dixon, who lived in the “A” Mountain area. The first event was held at Vista del Pueblo Park, not far from the base of the mountain, according to a Tucson Juneteenth Facebook post.
Event organizers once called it a “little neighborhood get-together,” according to Arizona Daily Star archives, but it grew in the following years into an even more inclusive event providing the community with historical presentations and exhibits, music and dance, and vendors selling food, arts and crafts.
During Saturday’s event, Tucson’s downtown area was filled with people of all ages painting Stone Avenue to display “Black Lives Matter” in colorful painted letters. The same words were displayed on a banner across the top of City Hall on Friday.
“It’s important that we work with our intergenerational community. They have something to teach us, and we have something to remind them of in terms of who we are,” Williams said.
Today’s top pics: Rayshard Brooks Protests and more
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Britain Shops Reopen
People walk with bags after shopping at the Selfridges department store in London, Monday, June 15, 2020. After three months of being closed under coronavirus restrictions, shops selling fashion, toys and other non-essential goods are being allowed to reopen across England for the first time since the country went into lockdown in March.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
German tourists arrive at the beach of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Italy Reopening
People sit in a cinema in Milan, Italy, Monday, June 15, 2020. Movie theaters are reopening across the country after three months of closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
A German tourist takes a sunbath at the Riu Concordia hotel swimming pool in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX America Protests Atlanta
People march down the street towards the Georgia state capitol to protest against the mistreatment of black people and to press for policy change, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Atlanta. The NAACP March to the Capitol Monday coincided with the restart of the Georgia 2020 General Assembly. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
APTOPIX Belgium EU US Foreign Ministers
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell listens to questions during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers by videoconference at the European Council building in Brussels on Monday, June 15, 2020. The talks, which included a videoconference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focused on China, developments in the Middle East and trans-Atlantic relations. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Bolivia Protest
A man wearing a traditional "Morenada" mask protests the government's recent closing of the Culture Ministry during a demonstration demanding it reopens in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, June 15, 2020. The government has closed the ministries of culture, sports, and communication, citing the need to cut costs, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
Two children look at a swing set, sealed to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
A resident listens to instructions from his home as members of a city health brigade explain ways to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. The capital is rolling out the reactivation of some businesses and activities over a two-week period, starting with the lifting of some driving restrictions and reopening some metro stops. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Panama
A health ministry worker takes a sample from a resident as his team goes from home to home to administer fast COVID-19 tests in the Nuevo Tocumen neighborhood of Panama City, Monday, June 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
APTOPIX Trump
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable about America's seniors, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Hilario Chavez, the husband of the late 72-year-old Monica Lagos, pushes her coffin into a hearse outside San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Venezuela Water Shortage
Buckets, some of them filled with water provided by a government tanker truck, stand in the living room of a house in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 15, 2020. Water shortages have continued to deepen in Venezuela at a time when the threat of the coronavirus makes washing hands even more critical. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Cemetery workers wearing protective gear against the new coronavirus, walk after carrying the coffin of 72-year-old Monica Lagos to her grave at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Relatives carry white balloons to the funeral of 72-year-old Monica Lagos at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives mourn at the funeral of 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega during his burial at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives bury 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega as a band plays at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico Reopening
Commuters ride down an escalator at the Santa Anita stop of the Line 4 subway, several stations of which had been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Mexico City expanded public transport options as part of the reopening process, Monday, June 15, 2020. Although the numbers of infected continue to rise, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Monday urged citizens not to fear the virus and to start coming out of their homes to reactivate the economy. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
APTOPIX America Protests Conquistador
Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, following the shooting of a man during a protest over a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. A confrontation erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the statue before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.” One protester repeatedly swung a pickax at the base of the statue. Moments later a few gunshots could be heard down the street and people started yelling that someone had been shot. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A swan searches for food on the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A rowing crew trains on the Avon River at sunset in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak China
A commuter wearing a goggle and protective face mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus sits on the seat of a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. China reported several dozen more coronavirus infections Tuesday as it increased testing and lockdown measures in parts of the capital to control what appeared to be its largest outbreak in more than two months. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
Smoke rises in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, seen from Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. South Korea says that North Korea has exploded an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the tense Korean border. (Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Japan Daily Life
A visitor enjoys the swing ride at the Yomiuriland amusement park in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. The park has been closed since the end of March due to the new coronavirus, has taken measures to prevent infections and reopened limited attractions. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
APTOPIX Hong Kong China Protest
Pro-Hong Kong demonstrators shout slogans during a protest at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped that the opposition would not "demonize and stigmatize" the new national security law as doing do would mean pitting themselves against the people of Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
A cat sits beneath a communist flag in a waiting shelter belonging to workers affiliated to a left party trade union in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
Fishermen repair and clear their nets after returning from a round of fishing in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
A South Korean army soldier patrols at the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom border village in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea. Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just inside its border in an act Tuesday that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy with the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
APTOPIX India Kashmir Daily Life
Kashmiri boys play on a makeshift swing on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Set in the Himalayas at 5,600 feet above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley surrounded by snowy mountain ranges with over 100 lakes dotting its highlands and plains. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Thailand Reopening
An employee wears a protective face mask and shield at Yoyo Land, an indoor amusement center in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Daily life in the capital resumes to normal as the government continues to ease restrictions related to running business and activities that were imposed weeks ago to combat the spread of COVID-19. Thailand reported no local transmissions of the coronavirus in the past 3 weeks. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak India
A health worker in protective suit listens to people standing in a queue for COVID 19 test at Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. India is the fourth hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world after the U.S., Russia and Brazil. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Virtual Juneteenth celebration gives glimpse into black culture, community in Tucson
The spike in coronavirus cases shut down an in-person celebration of Juneteenth in Tucson on Saturday, but it couldn’t drown out the voices of organizers spreading the message of the event’s importance.
The Barbea Williams Performance Co. hosted an hourslong, livestreamed event to mark the 50th annual celebration in Tucson. It featured singers, musicians and speakers relaying the message of Black Lives Matter to viewers.
Barbea Williams, the company’s artistic director, told viewers the event was a time to “enjoy, reflect and think about what this day means to us, not only 50 years ago here in Tucson, but also 1865.”
An 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence was hosted for George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives rally on…
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, but it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved black people until June 19 of that year, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Texas.
Usually held in Tucson Parks and Recreation areas or the Dunbar Center, the local event brings thousands out to experience black culture and history, while black entrepreneurs display what they offer to the community.
Speakers Saturday called for action during a time of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have swept the world.
“This is the time to make some real change, because a lot of the things that I hear people saying today are some of the same things I heard when I was a young person,” Williams said.
“So it’s time now that we make some real change and really open up doors in a way that we’ve never done before.”
First taking place in Tucson in 1970, the event’s origins are attributed to the families of Morris Doty and Bobby Ray Dixon, who lived in the “A” Mountain area. The first event was held at Vista del Pueblo Park, not far from the base of the mountain, according to a Tucson Juneteenth Facebook post.
Event organizers once called it a “little neighborhood get-together,” according to Arizona Daily Star archives, but it grew in the following years into an even more inclusive event providing the community with historical presentations and exhibits, music and dance, and vendors selling food, arts and crafts.
During Saturday’s event, Tucson’s downtown area was filled with people of all ages painting Stone Avenue to display “Black Lives Matter” in colorful painted letters. The same words were displayed on a banner across the top of City Hall on Friday.
“It’s important that we work with our intergenerational community. They have something to teach us, and we have something to remind them of in terms of who we are,” Williams said.
Today’s top pics: Rayshard Brooks Protests and more
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Britain Shops Reopen
People walk with bags after shopping at the Selfridges department store in London, Monday, June 15, 2020. After three months of being closed under coronavirus restrictions, shops selling fashion, toys and other non-essential goods are being allowed to reopen across England for the first time since the country went into lockdown in March.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
German tourists arrive at the beach of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Italy Reopening
People sit in a cinema in Milan, Italy, Monday, June 15, 2020. Movie theaters are reopening across the country after three months of closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
A German tourist takes a sunbath at the Riu Concordia hotel swimming pool in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX America Protests Atlanta
People march down the street towards the Georgia state capitol to protest against the mistreatment of black people and to press for policy change, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Atlanta. The NAACP March to the Capitol Monday coincided with the restart of the Georgia 2020 General Assembly. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
APTOPIX Belgium EU US Foreign Ministers
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell listens to questions during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers by videoconference at the European Council building in Brussels on Monday, June 15, 2020. The talks, which included a videoconference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focused on China, developments in the Middle East and trans-Atlantic relations. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Bolivia Protest
A man wearing a traditional "Morenada" mask protests the government's recent closing of the Culture Ministry during a demonstration demanding it reopens in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, June 15, 2020. The government has closed the ministries of culture, sports, and communication, citing the need to cut costs, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
Two children look at a swing set, sealed to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
A resident listens to instructions from his home as members of a city health brigade explain ways to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. The capital is rolling out the reactivation of some businesses and activities over a two-week period, starting with the lifting of some driving restrictions and reopening some metro stops. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Panama
A health ministry worker takes a sample from a resident as his team goes from home to home to administer fast COVID-19 tests in the Nuevo Tocumen neighborhood of Panama City, Monday, June 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
APTOPIX Trump
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable about America's seniors, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Hilario Chavez, the husband of the late 72-year-old Monica Lagos, pushes her coffin into a hearse outside San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Venezuela Water Shortage
Buckets, some of them filled with water provided by a government tanker truck, stand in the living room of a house in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 15, 2020. Water shortages have continued to deepen in Venezuela at a time when the threat of the coronavirus makes washing hands even more critical. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Cemetery workers wearing protective gear against the new coronavirus, walk after carrying the coffin of 72-year-old Monica Lagos to her grave at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Relatives carry white balloons to the funeral of 72-year-old Monica Lagos at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives mourn at the funeral of 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega during his burial at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives bury 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega as a band plays at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico Reopening
Commuters ride down an escalator at the Santa Anita stop of the Line 4 subway, several stations of which had been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Mexico City expanded public transport options as part of the reopening process, Monday, June 15, 2020. Although the numbers of infected continue to rise, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Monday urged citizens not to fear the virus and to start coming out of their homes to reactivate the economy. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
APTOPIX America Protests Conquistador
Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, following the shooting of a man during a protest over a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. A confrontation erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the statue before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.” One protester repeatedly swung a pickax at the base of the statue. Moments later a few gunshots could be heard down the street and people started yelling that someone had been shot. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A swan searches for food on the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A rowing crew trains on the Avon River at sunset in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak China
A commuter wearing a goggle and protective face mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus sits on the seat of a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. China reported several dozen more coronavirus infections Tuesday as it increased testing and lockdown measures in parts of the capital to control what appeared to be its largest outbreak in more than two months. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
Smoke rises in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, seen from Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. South Korea says that North Korea has exploded an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the tense Korean border. (Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Japan Daily Life
A visitor enjoys the swing ride at the Yomiuriland amusement park in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. The park has been closed since the end of March due to the new coronavirus, has taken measures to prevent infections and reopened limited attractions. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
APTOPIX Hong Kong China Protest
Pro-Hong Kong demonstrators shout slogans during a protest at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped that the opposition would not "demonize and stigmatize" the new national security law as doing do would mean pitting themselves against the people of Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
A cat sits beneath a communist flag in a waiting shelter belonging to workers affiliated to a left party trade union in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
Fishermen repair and clear their nets after returning from a round of fishing in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
A South Korean army soldier patrols at the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom border village in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea. Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just inside its border in an act Tuesday that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy with the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
APTOPIX India Kashmir Daily Life
Kashmiri boys play on a makeshift swing on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Set in the Himalayas at 5,600 feet above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley surrounded by snowy mountain ranges with over 100 lakes dotting its highlands and plains. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Thailand Reopening
An employee wears a protective face mask and shield at Yoyo Land, an indoor amusement center in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Daily life in the capital resumes to normal as the government continues to ease restrictions related to running business and activities that were imposed weeks ago to combat the spread of COVID-19. Thailand reported no local transmissions of the coronavirus in the past 3 weeks. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak India
A health worker in protective suit listens to people standing in a queue for COVID 19 test at Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. India is the fourth hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world after the U.S., Russia and Brazil. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Virtual Juneteenth celebration gives glimpse into black culture, community in Tucson
The spike in coronavirus cases shut down an in-person celebration of Juneteenth in Tucson on Saturday, but it couldn’t drown out the voices of organizers spreading the message of the event’s importance.
The Barbea Williams Performance Co. hosted an hourslong, livestreamed event to mark the 50th annual celebration in Tucson. It featured singers, musicians and speakers relaying the message of Black Lives Matter to viewers.
Barbea Williams, the company’s artistic director, told viewers the event was a time to “enjoy, reflect and think about what this day means to us, not only 50 years ago here in Tucson, but also 1865.”
An 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence was hosted for George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives rally on…
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, but it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved black people until June 19 of that year, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Texas.
Usually held in Tucson Parks and Recreation areas or the Dunbar Center, the local event brings thousands out to experience black culture and history, while black entrepreneurs display what they offer to the community.
Speakers Saturday called for action during a time of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have swept the world.
“This is the time to make some real change, because a lot of the things that I hear people saying today are some of the same things I heard when I was a young person,” Williams said.
“So it’s time now that we make some real change and really open up doors in a way that we’ve never done before.”
First taking place in Tucson in 1970, the event’s origins are attributed to the families of Morris Doty and Bobby Ray Dixon, who lived in the “A” Mountain area. The first event was held at Vista del Pueblo Park, not far from the base of the mountain, according to a Tucson Juneteenth Facebook post.
Event organizers once called it a “little neighborhood get-together,” according to Arizona Daily Star archives, but it grew in the following years into an even more inclusive event providing the community with historical presentations and exhibits, music and dance, and vendors selling food, arts and crafts.
During Saturday’s event, Tucson’s downtown area was filled with people of all ages painting Stone Avenue to display “Black Lives Matter” in colorful painted letters. The same words were displayed on a banner across the top of City Hall on Friday.
“It’s important that we work with our intergenerational community. They have something to teach us, and we have something to remind them of in terms of who we are,” Williams said.
Today’s top pics: Rayshard Brooks Protests and more
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Britain Shops Reopen
People walk with bags after shopping at the Selfridges department store in London, Monday, June 15, 2020. After three months of being closed under coronavirus restrictions, shops selling fashion, toys and other non-essential goods are being allowed to reopen across England for the first time since the country went into lockdown in March.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
German tourists arrive at the beach of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Italy Reopening
People sit in a cinema in Milan, Italy, Monday, June 15, 2020. Movie theaters are reopening across the country after three months of closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
A German tourist takes a sunbath at the Riu Concordia hotel swimming pool in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX America Protests Atlanta
People march down the street towards the Georgia state capitol to protest against the mistreatment of black people and to press for policy change, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Atlanta. The NAACP March to the Capitol Monday coincided with the restart of the Georgia 2020 General Assembly. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
APTOPIX Belgium EU US Foreign Ministers
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell listens to questions during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers by videoconference at the European Council building in Brussels on Monday, June 15, 2020. The talks, which included a videoconference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focused on China, developments in the Middle East and trans-Atlantic relations. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Bolivia Protest
A man wearing a traditional "Morenada" mask protests the government's recent closing of the Culture Ministry during a demonstration demanding it reopens in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, June 15, 2020. The government has closed the ministries of culture, sports, and communication, citing the need to cut costs, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
Two children look at a swing set, sealed to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
A resident listens to instructions from his home as members of a city health brigade explain ways to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. The capital is rolling out the reactivation of some businesses and activities over a two-week period, starting with the lifting of some driving restrictions and reopening some metro stops. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Panama
A health ministry worker takes a sample from a resident as his team goes from home to home to administer fast COVID-19 tests in the Nuevo Tocumen neighborhood of Panama City, Monday, June 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
APTOPIX Trump
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable about America's seniors, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Hilario Chavez, the husband of the late 72-year-old Monica Lagos, pushes her coffin into a hearse outside San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Venezuela Water Shortage
Buckets, some of them filled with water provided by a government tanker truck, stand in the living room of a house in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 15, 2020. Water shortages have continued to deepen in Venezuela at a time when the threat of the coronavirus makes washing hands even more critical. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Cemetery workers wearing protective gear against the new coronavirus, walk after carrying the coffin of 72-year-old Monica Lagos to her grave at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Relatives carry white balloons to the funeral of 72-year-old Monica Lagos at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives mourn at the funeral of 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega during his burial at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives bury 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega as a band plays at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico Reopening
Commuters ride down an escalator at the Santa Anita stop of the Line 4 subway, several stations of which had been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Mexico City expanded public transport options as part of the reopening process, Monday, June 15, 2020. Although the numbers of infected continue to rise, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Monday urged citizens not to fear the virus and to start coming out of their homes to reactivate the economy. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
APTOPIX America Protests Conquistador
Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, following the shooting of a man during a protest over a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. A confrontation erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the statue before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.” One protester repeatedly swung a pickax at the base of the statue. Moments later a few gunshots could be heard down the street and people started yelling that someone had been shot. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A swan searches for food on the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A rowing crew trains on the Avon River at sunset in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak China
A commuter wearing a goggle and protective face mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus sits on the seat of a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. China reported several dozen more coronavirus infections Tuesday as it increased testing and lockdown measures in parts of the capital to control what appeared to be its largest outbreak in more than two months. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
Smoke rises in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, seen from Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. South Korea says that North Korea has exploded an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the tense Korean border. (Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Japan Daily Life
A visitor enjoys the swing ride at the Yomiuriland amusement park in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. The park has been closed since the end of March due to the new coronavirus, has taken measures to prevent infections and reopened limited attractions. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
APTOPIX Hong Kong China Protest
Pro-Hong Kong demonstrators shout slogans during a protest at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped that the opposition would not "demonize and stigmatize" the new national security law as doing do would mean pitting themselves against the people of Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
A cat sits beneath a communist flag in a waiting shelter belonging to workers affiliated to a left party trade union in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
Fishermen repair and clear their nets after returning from a round of fishing in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
A South Korean army soldier patrols at the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom border village in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea. Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just inside its border in an act Tuesday that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy with the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
APTOPIX India Kashmir Daily Life
Kashmiri boys play on a makeshift swing on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Set in the Himalayas at 5,600 feet above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley surrounded by snowy mountain ranges with over 100 lakes dotting its highlands and plains. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Thailand Reopening
An employee wears a protective face mask and shield at Yoyo Land, an indoor amusement center in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Daily life in the capital resumes to normal as the government continues to ease restrictions related to running business and activities that were imposed weeks ago to combat the spread of COVID-19. Thailand reported no local transmissions of the coronavirus in the past 3 weeks. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak India
A health worker in protective suit listens to people standing in a queue for COVID 19 test at Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. India is the fourth hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world after the U.S., Russia and Brazil. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Virtual Juneteenth celebration gives glimpse into black culture, community in Tucson
The spike in coronavirus cases shut down an in-person celebration of Juneteenth in Tucson on Saturday, but it couldn’t drown out the voices of organizers spreading the message of the event’s importance.
The Barbea Williams Performance Co. hosted an hourslong, livestreamed event to mark the 50th annual celebration in Tucson. It featured singers, musicians and speakers relaying the message of Black Lives Matter to viewers.
Barbea Williams, the company’s artistic director, told viewers the event was a time to “enjoy, reflect and think about what this day means to us, not only 50 years ago here in Tucson, but also 1865.”
An 8-minute, 46-second moment of silence was hosted for George Floyd during the Black Lives Matter Tucson: Celebration of Black Lives rally on…
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, but it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved black people until June 19 of that year, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Texas.
Usually held in Tucson Parks and Recreation areas or the Dunbar Center, the local event brings thousands out to experience black culture and history, while black entrepreneurs display what they offer to the community.
Speakers Saturday called for action during a time of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have swept the world.
“This is the time to make some real change, because a lot of the things that I hear people saying today are some of the same things I heard when I was a young person,” Williams said.
“So it’s time now that we make some real change and really open up doors in a way that we’ve never done before.”
First taking place in Tucson in 1970, the event’s origins are attributed to the families of Morris Doty and Bobby Ray Dixon, who lived in the “A” Mountain area. The first event was held at Vista del Pueblo Park, not far from the base of the mountain, according to a Tucson Juneteenth Facebook post.
Event organizers once called it a “little neighborhood get-together,” according to Arizona Daily Star archives, but it grew in the following years into an even more inclusive event providing the community with historical presentations and exhibits, music and dance, and vendors selling food, arts and crafts.
During Saturday’s event, Tucson’s downtown area was filled with people of all ages painting Stone Avenue to display “Black Lives Matter” in colorful painted letters. The same words were displayed on a banner across the top of City Hall on Friday.
“It’s important that we work with our intergenerational community. They have something to teach us, and we have something to remind them of in terms of who we are,” Williams said.
Today’s top pics: Rayshard Brooks Protests and more
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Britain Shops Reopen
People walk with bags after shopping at the Selfridges department store in London, Monday, June 15, 2020. After three months of being closed under coronavirus restrictions, shops selling fashion, toys and other non-essential goods are being allowed to reopen across England for the first time since the country went into lockdown in March.(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
German tourists arrive at the beach of Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Italy Reopening
People sit in a cinema in Milan, Italy, Monday, June 15, 2020. Movie theaters are reopening across the country after three months of closure due to the COVID-19 lockdown measures. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
A German tourist takes a sunbath at the Riu Concordia hotel swimming pool in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)
APTOPIX America Protests Atlanta
People march down the street towards the Georgia state capitol to protest against the mistreatment of black people and to press for policy change, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Atlanta. The NAACP March to the Capitol Monday coincided with the restart of the Georgia 2020 General Assembly. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
APTOPIX Belgium EU US Foreign Ministers
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell listens to questions during a media conference after a meeting of EU foreign ministers by videoconference at the European Council building in Brussels on Monday, June 15, 2020. The talks, which included a videoconference with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, focused on China, developments in the Middle East and trans-Atlantic relations. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Bolivia Protest
A man wearing a traditional "Morenada" mask protests the government's recent closing of the Culture Ministry during a demonstration demanding it reopens in La Paz, Bolivia, Monday, June 15, 2020. The government has closed the ministries of culture, sports, and communication, citing the need to cut costs, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Spain
Two children look at a swing set, sealed to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus, in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, June 15, 2020. Borders opened up across Europe on Monday after three months of coronavirus closures that began chaotically in March. But many restrictions persist, it's unclear how keen Europeans will be to travel this summer and the continent is still closed to Americans, Asians and other international tourists. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
A resident listens to instructions from his home as members of a city health brigade explain ways to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. The capital is rolling out the reactivation of some businesses and activities over a two-week period, starting with the lifting of some driving restrictions and reopening some metro stops. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Panama
A health ministry worker takes a sample from a resident as his team goes from home to home to administer fast COVID-19 tests in the Nuevo Tocumen neighborhood of Panama City, Monday, June 15, 2020. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)
APTOPIX Trump
President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable about America's seniors, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, June 15, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Hilario Chavez, the husband of the late 72-year-old Monica Lagos, pushes her coffin into a hearse outside San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Venezuela Water Shortage
Buckets, some of them filled with water provided by a government tanker truck, stand in the living room of a house in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, June 15, 2020. Water shortages have continued to deepen in Venezuela at a time when the threat of the coronavirus makes washing hands even more critical. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Cemetery workers wearing protective gear against the new coronavirus, walk after carrying the coffin of 72-year-old Monica Lagos to her grave at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Chile
Relatives carry white balloons to the funeral of 72-year-old Monica Lagos at the Manantial cemetery in Santiago, Chile, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to her grandaughter Ninoska Vasquez, who works as an assistant at a health center, Lagos died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives mourn at the funeral of 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega during his burial at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico
Relatives bury 67-yer-old Mauricio Ortega as a band plays at the Municipal Cemetery of Valle de Chalco in the outskirts of Mexico City, Monday, June 15, 2020. According to the family, Ortega died from complications related to COVID-19. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Mexico Reopening
Commuters ride down an escalator at the Santa Anita stop of the Line 4 subway, several stations of which had been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, as Mexico City expanded public transport options as part of the reopening process, Monday, June 15, 2020. Although the numbers of infected continue to rise, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Monday urged citizens not to fear the virus and to start coming out of their homes to reactivate the economy. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
APTOPIX America Protests Conquistador
Albuquerque police detain members of the New Mexico Civil Guard, an armed civilian group, following the shooting of a man during a protest over a statue of Spanish conquerer Juan de Oñate on Monday, June 15, 2020, in Albuquerque, N.M. A confrontation erupted between protesters and a group of armed men who were trying to protect the statue before protesters wrapped a chain around it and began tugging on it while chanting: “Tear it down.” One protester repeatedly swung a pickax at the base of the statue. Moments later a few gunshots could be heard down the street and people started yelling that someone had been shot. (Adolphe Pierre-Louis/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A swan searches for food on the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX New Zealand Daily Life
A rowing crew trains on the Avon River at sunset in Christchurch, New Zealand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak China
A commuter wearing a goggle and protective face mask to help curb the spread of the new coronavirus sits on the seat of a subway train in Beijing, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. China reported several dozen more coronavirus infections Tuesday as it increased testing and lockdown measures in parts of the capital to control what appeared to be its largest outbreak in more than two months. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
Smoke rises in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, seen from Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. South Korea says that North Korea has exploded an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the tense Korean border. (Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Japan Daily Life
A visitor enjoys the swing ride at the Yomiuriland amusement park in Tokyo, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. The park has been closed since the end of March due to the new coronavirus, has taken measures to prevent infections and reopened limited attractions. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
APTOPIX Hong Kong China Protest
Pro-Hong Kong demonstrators shout slogans during a protest at a shopping mall in Hong Kong, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said she hoped that the opposition would not "demonize and stigmatize" the new national security law as doing do would mean pitting themselves against the people of Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
A cat sits beneath a communist flag in a waiting shelter belonging to workers affiliated to a left party trade union in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX India Daily Life
Fishermen repair and clear their nets after returning from a round of fishing in Kochi, Kerala state, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. (AP Photo/R S Iyer)
APTOPIX South Korea Koreas Tensions
A South Korean army soldier patrols at the Unification Bridge, which leads to the Panmunjom border village in the Demilitarized Zone in Paju, South Korea. Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just inside its border in an act Tuesday that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy with the United States. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
APTOPIX India Kashmir Daily Life
Kashmiri boys play on a makeshift swing on a hot summer day on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Set in the Himalayas at 5,600 feet above sea level, Kashmir is a green, saucer-shaped valley surrounded by snowy mountain ranges with over 100 lakes dotting its highlands and plains. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak Thailand Reopening
An employee wears a protective face mask and shield at Yoyo Land, an indoor amusement center in Bangkok, Thailand, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. Daily life in the capital resumes to normal as the government continues to ease restrictions related to running business and activities that were imposed weeks ago to combat the spread of COVID-19. Thailand reported no local transmissions of the coronavirus in the past 3 weeks. (AP Photo/ Gemunu Amarasinghe)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Koreas Tensions
South Korean Marines patrol on Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. North Korea blew up an inter-Korean liaison office building just north of the heavily armed border with South Korea on Tuesday in a carefully choreographed display of anger that sharply raises tensions on the Korean Peninsula and puts pressure on Washington and Seoul amid deadlocked nuclear diplomacy. (Kim In-chul/Yonhap via AP)
APTOPIX Virus Outbreak India
A health worker in protective suit listens to people standing in a queue for COVID 19 test at Sir Ganga Ram hospital in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 16, 2020. India is the fourth hardest-hit country by the COVID-19 pandemic in the world after the U.S., Russia and Brazil. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)
Virtual Juneteenth celebration gives glimpse into black culture, community in Tucson
The spike in coronavirus cases shut down an in-person celebration of Juneteenth in Tucson on Saturday, but it couldn’t drown out the voices of organizers spreading the message of the event’s importance.
The Barbea Williams Performance Co. hosted an hourslong, livestreamed event to mark the 50th annual celebration in Tucson. It featured singers, musicians and speakers relaying the message of Black Lives Matter to viewers.
Barbea Williams, the company’s artistic director, told viewers the event was a time to “enjoy, reflect and think about what this day means to us, not only 50 years ago here in Tucson, but also 1865.”
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862, but it wasn’t enforced in many places until after the Civil War ended in April 1865. Word didn’t reach the last enslaved black people until June 19 of that year, when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to Texas.
Usually held in Tucson Parks and Recreation areas or the Dunbar Center, the local event brings thousands out to experience black culture and history, while black entrepreneurs display what they offer to the community.
Speakers Saturday called for action during a time of protests against police brutality and systemic racism that have swept the world.
“This is the time to make some real change, because a lot of the things that I hear people saying today are some of the same things I heard when I was a young person,” Williams said.
“So it’s time now that we make some real change and really open up doors in a way that we’ve never done before.”
First taking place in Tucson in 1970, the event’s origins are attributed to the families of Morris Doty and Bobby Ray Dixon, who lived in the “A” Mountain area. The first event was held at Vista del Pueblo Park, not far from the base of the mountain, according to a Tucson Juneteenth Facebook post.
Event organizers once called it a “little neighborhood get-together,” according to Arizona Daily Star archives, but it grew in the following years into an even more inclusive event providing the community with historical presentations and exhibits, music and dance, and vendors selling food, arts and crafts.
During Saturday’s event, Tucson’s downtown area was filled with people of all ages painting Stone Avenue to display “Black Lives Matter” in colorful painted letters. The same words were displayed on a banner across the top of City Hall on Friday.
“It’s important that we work with our intergenerational community. They have something to teach us, and we have something to remind them of in terms of who we are,” Williams said.