Yesterday evening, the community gathered at Eastwoods Park near UT to celebrate Juneteenth with speeches, barbecues and educational displays organized by the University’s Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis.

According to the Smithsonian, approximately 2,000 Union troops marched into Galveston on June 19, 1865, to announce the enslaved people of Texas were freed. The Civil War had ended two months earlier, and the Emancipation Proclamation took effect a year and a half before. Juneteenth has been celebrated every year since, becoming a Texas state holiday in 1980 and a federal holiday in 2021.

Dina Inman Ramgolam, the institute’s associate director of operations, said one of Austin’s earliest documented Juneteenth celebrations occurred at modern-day Eastwoods Park. She said the Eastwoods Neighborhood Association approached the institute to co-host the celebration.

Inman Ramgolam said most Juneteenth celebrations include an educational aspect.

“I remember going to Juneteenth celebrations but not really knowing what I was doing there,” Inman Ramgolam said. “It was because a lot of the history was not taught to me as a young Texan when I was in school. That’s why we insisted on having the history tables because we want all Texans to come and give them the opportunity to learn more about the day itself.”

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Lorianne Willett

A child and her mother sit a table during a Juneteenth celebration at Eastwoods Neighborhood Park on June 19, 2023. The Eastwoods Neighborhood Association partnered with UT's Institute for Urban Policy Research & Analysis to hold the celebration.

Inman Ramgolam said the institute hopes future Juneteenth celebrations at Eastwoods Park grow in scale. 

Kevin Foster, a professor of African & African Diaspora studies who spoke at the celebration, said even though the first Juneteenth freed all enslaved people, Black people living in the South were told to remain where they were housed and not to travel.

“Juneteenth was this day of freedom, but it also had baked into it the beginnings of Jim Crow,” Foster said in his speech. “Black folk took the part of Juneteenth that said, ‘You are free.’ And that piece of Juneteenth that said, ‘Stay in your place,’ we didn’t listen (to).”

Texas NAACP president Gary Bledsoe said Juneteenth is not a holiday solely for the Black community. Instead, Bledsoe said it should be a time when all Americans unite “to make sure our society becomes something that we reflect.”

Local, state and federal elected officials also attended the Eastwoods Park event. Even after the speeches concluded, celebrations continued as community members learned more and talked about the holiday.

“We need events like Juneteenth and Dr. King’s birthday … not only to celebrate but to tell the true story of what has slowly evolved and the challenges that we continue to face,” Congressman Lloyd Doggett said in a speech.

Attendee LaShonda Cobb said the best thing about the holiday was getting more people involved and encouraging individuals to celebrate.

“It was a great turnout,” Cobb said. “My ancestors went through a lot to get me here today. Who would I be to not celebrate?”

Another attendee, Alvan Andelle, said the Black community still deals with racism daily. Still, Andelle said events like those at Eastwoods Park present an opportunity for people of all races to learn how to celebrate Juneteenth with the Black community.

“It’s a melancholy holiday, a day of reflection,” Andelle said. “And a reminder of the progress we’ve made as a nation, but (also) how much improvement there is still (to be made).”