Since 1990, Madison’s annual Juneteenth Celebration at Penn Park, co-founded by Annie Weatherby-Flowers and Mona Adams Winston, has been fun, family-friendly celebration of the lived experiences and accomplishments of Black Americans historically and presently here in Madison and across the nation.
“I’ve been involved in Juneteenth since it was first a conversation over lunch. The first pulling together of the first folks to host Juneteenth in Madison … I made those phone calls,” says Weatherby-Flowers, the longtime organizer of Madison’s Juneteenth. “And here we are …. 35 years later.”
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, a day when African-American slaves in Texas were told by Union forces that they were free. They were the final group of slaves to realize their freedom. Deep in the Confederacy, they were unaware of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation almost two years earlier. A celebration of the day has been held annually in Texas ever since, which eventually spread to other states.
In Madison over the last 35 years, Juneteenth has been celebrated mostly at Penn Park on the Saturday closest to June 19. This year’s event on Saturday, June 15, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., will have the theme of “Resilience, Reclamation, and Cohesion.”
“Traditionally we were village people who supported each other, and with integration and all these other things, we have moved away from that cohesiveness,” Weatherby-Flowers explains speaking on this year’s Junteenth theme. “So what I really want to do this Juneteenth is to remind us of the importance of this cohesion … like it takes a village to raise a child and looking at historically how we approached things as a village, as a community, in the civil rights movement, you know, all of those things are about how we came together.
“We used to do that through the church and through the Divine 9 and fraternities and sororities. It was about cohesion … village cohesion or community cohesion. It was about pulling together,” she adds.
At Juneteenth 2024, the Kujichagulia Advisory Board and Planning Committee will present a series of events to promote political responsibility, educational advancement, sufficiency, good health, social responsibility, and collective well-being within the Madison black community.
“We have two headliners, too. We are partnering with Sessions [at McPike Park] for the Stooges [Brass Band], a New Orleans Hip Hop brass band. And so they’ll be at Juneteenth and then they’ll be at McPike Park on Sunday,” Weatherby-Flowers says. “But we also have Jamal Roberts, who is a three-time [BET] Sunday Best finalist, who’s also going to be performing in the park.
“Of course, we’re going to have all the educational components, health components, all the things that we do to connect our community to resources as we celebrate all of our contributions,” Weatherby Flowers adds. “And that kicks off, as it does every year, with the Juneteenth Parade starting at Fountain of Life [Church] and then the activities in the park.”
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
Juneteenth Madison is a unique opportunity to experience the rich history of Black Americans through various forms of entertainment, lectures, performances, exhibits, visual presentations, food, music, and other activities.
(Photo by A. David Dahmer)
For Weatherby-Flowers, she is amazed at how Juneteenth has grown over the years and has become such an important part of Madison.
“When we first started, I really hoped it would become a big thing because that’s what I experienced in Milwaukee growing up with Juneteenth in my community,” Weatherby-Flowers remembers. “It was the place where all the college kids came home and got together … That’s where you saw them. We had local resources and had national performers in Milwaukee like [R&B legend] Smokey Robinson and all those kinds of people.
“I can’t afford that kind of artist in Madison,” she adds, laughing.
This year’s event is once again hosted by Kujichagulia Madison Center for Self-Determination, a non-profit organization founded by Weatherby-Flowers and Winston that works to unite Madison-area African American communities to address the collective issues that place certain sectors of its community.
“I’m also looking forward to using Kujhichaugilia to do a little bit more stuff year-round. Getting grants and hiring somebody …. that is the next step because I’m going to move into retirement,” Weatherby-Flowers says. “So I have time to focus a little bit better on that. But that’s the goal: to look at how to do more things … work in the schools with healing labs and do more work in the community.
“We really looking at how to do more of building cohesion and in promoting Black resilience more often than just the annual Juneteenth celebration,” she adds.
As she moves into retirement and after organizing Juneteenth for 35 years, Weatherby-Flowers is looking for that special someone to replace her as the Juneteenth Madison organizer.
“I’m excited about cultivating somebody to replace me. I’m looking for that person every place I’m going because I’m looking for a common-good person,” she says. “I’m trying to find that person.”
Organizers are also still looking for volunteers for the event in many different capacities. To sign up to volunteer, click here.
