Salem To Host 2 Days Of Juneteenth Celebration Events

SALEM, MA — The city of Salem will host a series of events to celebrate Juneteenth, including a flag-raising, documentary and film screening at Cinema Salem and an outdoor film showing at Salem Common.

All events are free and family-friendly. The theme of this year’s Juneteenth ceremony is Bigger, Bolder, and Blacker.

The Juneteenth flag-raising at Riley Plaza will take place at noon on June 18 and is in collaboration with the North Shore Juneteenth Association. The flag-raising will feature remarks from State Representative and School Committee Member Manny Cruz, NSJA President and Lynn City Council Member, Nicole McClain and spoken word artist and inaugural Poet Laureate of Lynn, Michelle La Poetica, with closing remarks and reflections from Monieke McNeil of Salem.

"Juneteenth is a celebration of freedom, joy, and Black culture and history," Salem Mayor Dominick Pangallo. "My thanks to the staff in the Mayor’s Office, North Shore Juneteenth, and our many community partners, and to Mass Humanities for their funding support."

Salem’s Juneteenth Jam Festival II will take place on June 19 at noon, at Charlotte Forten Park with remarks from community members and city officials. Attendees are invited to participate in a public reading of Frederick Douglass's famous speech "The Meaning of The Fourth Of July" for the Negro led by anti-racist educator and local organizer Toni Waldron.

Salem’s Juneteenth Jam will feature games, activities, crafts, face painting, music, a free planting activity from The Willow Witch and food from Butter Ur Biscuit. There will also be a pop-up market, featuring local Black-owned businesses organized by The Anthem Group.

Live music, with support from the Pirate Museum, from Coco Brown and The Invitation, led by Nicole Harris, will kick off their set at 2:15 p.m. with "Lift Every Voice."

At 3:20, History Alive, Inc. presents Chloe Agyare as teacher and abolitionist Charlotte Forten reading her poems, journal entries, and lyrics of activism. Sketch materials will be available to draw Charlotte from life. Historical Tours Salem will offer a free hour-long Black history tour of Salem, which will start at 3:30 from Charlotte Forten Park.

Sign-ups for this tour will begin at 3:15, with a limit of 40 available spots.

Festivities will continue with the world premiere screening of a new Charlotte Forten mini-documentary commissioned by the city of Salem.

The screening takes place at Cinema Salem at 5 p.m. Created and directed by Steven Foley Media Productions of Lynn, this short documentary covers the legacy of Charlotte Forten, Salem State's first Black graduate and one of the City of Salem's first Black public-school teachers.

Cinema Salem will host a panel discussion featuring residents and community members involved with the project. The panel includes key project members Nate Bryant, Gwendolyn Rosemond, and Moneike McNeil, and will be moderated by the City of Salem's Senior Planner for Arts and Culture Julie Barry.

An outdoor screening of Marvel's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" will take place on Salem Common. Free popcorn will be provided, thanks to CinemaSalem. The movie is expected to start at 8:30 p.m. and is approximately 2 ½ hours long.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)