Juneteenth Kicks Off In Somerville With Flag Raising Ceremony

SOMERVILLE, MA – Juneteenth observances in Somerville kick off this year with a flag raising ceremony at city hall.

The ceremony will be held on June 12 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

“The Juneteenth flag is a powerful symbol of equality, justice, and the enduring spirit of freedom. It is an honor to join the Somerville community to fly it proudly above City Hall,” Mayor Katjana Ballantyne said in a news release. “It serves to remind all of us of our shared responsibility to confront the legacy of slavery and continue the work of building a more inclusive and equitable society.”

The flag-raising ceremony will be conducted by U.S. Army Veteran Kevin Dickinson, with live speeches and performances from North Shore Juneteenth Association representatives, including Ogor Winnie Okoye, Andre Bennett, Eva Davenport, and Michelle La Poetica Richardson.

Black-owned and Somerville-based Tipping Cow Ice Cream will provide ice cream during the flag-raising ceremony. The Somerville Department of Racial and Social Justice is also sponsoring 50 tickets to an upcoming exhibit at the Somerville Museum.

The exhibit, “Above and Beyond: The Remarkable Life of Somerville Olympian Phil Reavis,” showcases the life of Phil Reavis, a Somerville native, Olympic athlete, long-time educator and one of the first people of color in Somerville with a public space named in his honor.

There is a $5 admission fee for the exhibit, which runs from June 8 to July 8, 2023.

Tickets for the exhibit will be available at the flag-raising ceremony and after the event. To secure tickets, Somerville community members are asked to email RSJ Community Engagement Specialist Leonor Galindo at lgalindo@somervillema.gov.

The flag-raising will also be recorded and made available for later viewing by Somerville’s GovTV team. Residents can watch the ceremony on-demand with optional closed-captioning on YouTube. Residents can also tune in on cable TV at GovTV Comcast Ch. 22 and GovTV Astound (RCN) Ch. 13 & 613. Videos are generally post within one to two business days of recording. Live ASL Interpretation will also be provided at the event.

The Monday, June 19, national holiday commemorates the day in 1865, more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, when word finally reached the last enslaved people in Texas that the Civil War had ended, and they were free.

Also known as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the oldest-known celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making it a federal holiday, the first since the addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

• Related: What Is Juneteenth? Celebrating The End Of Slavery

Because Juneteenth is an official U.S. holiday, banks, federal offices and post offices in Somerville will be closed Monday.