Advertisement

Cedar Rapids Opera celebrates Juneteenth with new, kid-friendly show mixing Mozart and Charlie Parker

Since its early days, the Cedar Rapids Opera has sought to add original works to their repertoire. “I started the company 25 years ago,” said Dr. Daniel Kleinknecht, the opera’s founder, who still serves as artistic director. “It was an […]

Read More…

‘Buffalo Women’ offers a new conversation on Black female camaraderie, set against a Juneteenth backdrop

Buffalo Women, which opens this Sunday, Juneteenth, is a new play by Omaha-based playwright Beaufield Berry. Subtitled “A Black Cowgirl Musical Dramedy,” the play tells the story of how five Black women, including interpretations of historical figures, find solidarity with […]

Read More…

Jo Allen celebrates being both Black and queer with Pride and Soul skate night

Pride and Juneteenth have so many intersections to navigate. Jo Allen has challenged Des Moines to take those roads and realize that every marginalized community in the city are fighting for the same rights against the same people. “I was […]

Read More…

Juneteenth in Eastern Iowa: cook-outs, blood drives, water balloon battles and Black art

It has been one year since Iowa City and the U.S. government have formally recognized Juneteenth as an official holiday. Many cities across Iowa have been slow to formally recognize Juneteenth, even though the holiday dates back to 1865. However, […]

Read More…

Best of the CRANDIC Spotlight: Johnson County’s Juneteenth balanced past and present, education and celebration

Best of the CRANDIC 2021 winner of Best Cultural Event Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union soldiers sailed into Galveston, Texas, and read aloud the order freeing the state’s quarter-million slaves. The occasion has long been commemorated by Black […]

Read More…

Juneteenth in Johnson County includes a block party, interactive history and Black-owned businesses

Juneteenth will be an officially recognized holiday in Iowa City for the first time this year, and the city, in association with Johnson County and other partners, is hosting a weeklong series of events culminating on Saturday, which will be […]

Read More…

Watch: Mayor Bruce Teague and Supervisor Royceann Porter discuss Juneteenth, Black Lives Matter and the Black Voices Project

During the Thursday edition of Iowa City’s online program Community Connection, Mayor Bruce Teague and Johnson County Supervisor Royceann Porter discussed Saturday’s Juneteenth Celebration on the Pentacrest, as well as the recent protests in the city and the country. Although […]

Read More…

Iowa City Pride hosting virtual parade on Saturday, joining Juneteenth march

Pride events across the country were swiftly canceled earlier this spring, as the risks posed by COVID-19 became clear, but many LGBTQ organizations promised not to let Pride Month pass without a celebration. Iowa City Pride will host its own […]

Read More…

Protesters march to City Councilmember Pauline Taylor’s house, insist on abolishing the police

Following their march to Coralville on Thursday, where a line of law enforcement officers under the command of the Iowa State Patrol blocked them from reaching I-80, the Iowa Freedom Riders adopted a new tactic. Instead of marching to the […]

Read More…

Iowa City Area Juneteenth kicked off Freedom Week with a Reclamation workshop

Iowa City Area Juneteenth is pulling out all stops this year to honor the end of slavery in the United States. In keeping with trends across the country, the organization is celebrating Freedom Week for the first time, filling the week surrounding Juneteenth with community events above and beyond the yearly celebration. […]

Read More…