Juneteenth is this Thursday, June 19, and there will be commemorations, celebrations, forums and other events marking the historic holiday in Iowa both on and around the day. Here are 20 events worth checking out. Iowa City area Monday-Friday, June 16-20, Juneteenth 2025 presented by The Black Voices Project, South District Market parking lot Thursday, […]
Juneteenth
Posted inCommunity/News
This Juneteenth comes at a critical moment for freedom, truth and civil rights protections in Iowa
“All Quad Citizens Come Celebrate Freedom,” the posters said, inviting people to a two-day celebration of Juneteenth in Davenport in 1989. The street-fest that year on Saturday, June 17 and the history-themed event on Sunday, June 18 made up the first community celebration in Iowa of Juneteenth to grow into an annual event. Thirty-five years […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
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 idea I had, kind of because in the ’80s, ’90s, so many of my friends […]
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Five questions with Iowa Juneteenth T-Shirt Contest winner, Jaemal Sullivan
A man with more skills than he can account for pushed himself to the next level by entering the new Iowa Juneteenth T-Shirt Contest. Jaemal Sullivan didn’t know if he had a chance to come out on top, but it surely felt good when he did. Sullivan’s winning design, a Black power fist emblazoned with […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Central Iowa, Central Iowa Arts & Entertainment
‘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 one another and use the strength of sisterhood to overcome adversities of motherhood, racism, new-found […]
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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 just recognizing that there wasn’t anybody that was doing something that focused on the intersections […]
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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, on the state level, Iowa formally began observing Juneteenth as a holiday back in 2002. […]
Posted inCentral Iowa, Central Iowa Arts & Entertainment, Central Iowa Community/News
Dive into Juneteenth celebrations in central Iowa
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Last year, on March 22, 2021, Des Moines City Manager Scott Sanders announced Juneteenth as an official city holiday. “We hope by commemorating this date,” he said at the time, “we can better illustrate the significance of Juneteenth and generate greater recognition throughout our community and the state”. Later that year, President Joe Biden […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
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 Southerners, and the first local Juneteenth festival was organized by LaTasha DeLoach in 2011. Iowa […]
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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 the 156th anniversary of the event the day memorializes. On June 19, 1865, Union troops […]
Posted inCommunity/News
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 other Juneteenth celebrations have had to be canceled due to COVID-19, the Iowa Freedom Riders, […]
Posted inCommunity/News, COVID-19
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 socially distant celebration this Saturday, June 20, with a virtual parade. Local drag queens and […]
