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BALTIMORE Juneteenth is now recognized as a national federal holiday.

On June 17, 2021, Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.

Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19, commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. It also celebrates African-American culture with events, music, dancing, clothing, and so much more.

This year, Juneteenth will be on Sunday. Government offices will be closed on Monday, June 20 to observe the holiday.

There are celebrations and commemorations taking place across the WMAR-2 News viewing area.

Baltimore City: AFRAM: The Juneteenth headliner in Baltimore City is AFRAM, one of the largest African American festivals on the East Coast. AFRAM will be at Baltimore City's Druid Hill Park. The two-day festival with performers, food, and more, will be on Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Click here for more information.Organizers say the purpose of the festival is to teach people about African American culture and highlight the excellence within the Black community.

Juneteenth Father's Day Soul Marathon: This will be held on Sunday at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. Tickets range from $63 to $103. The Juneteenth Father's Day Soul Marathon will have performances by Freddie Jackson, The Manhattans Featuring Gerald Alston. Special performances include The Softones, Bloodstone, Blue Magic, The Temprees, First Impression, JKar, Palovation, and Style. Hosted by Ms. Maybelle with Special Guest DJ Mike Jones and DJ Unique.

Juneteenth: Black Business Marketplace: Palladium, 2900 Liberty Heights Avenue, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, June 18, 60+ Black-owned businesses, sponsors and community organizations will be in attendance.

GiveThx Party: Come out and dance the afternoon away! This event will feature a live DJ playing the best in dance music from house music to disco! Visit the other side of the park for the lively drum circle! Shop, eat, fellowship and, most importantly, dance from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, June 19 at Eager Park between Ashland Avenue and Eager Street.

Culture Queen's Juneteenth Jubilee: Sunday, January 19 from 2:05 p.m. to 2:50 p.m. at Bliss Meadows-Backyard Basecamp, 5105 Plainfield Avenue. Award-winning children's entertainer to speak at black-owned farm.

Juneteenth Brunch: Hosted by The Presidents' roundtable, at Reginald F. Lewis Museum, 830 E. Pratt Street, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Join for brunch, networking, and a panel discussing a look back at the past, how far we have come, and how far we still have to go within the Black Business Community in the Baltimore and Washington D.C. region.

Bask in Freedom: From 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, June 19. Join to celebrate Juneteenth with a special commission and live performance by Ray Winder and her intrepid band of musical creators, whose jazz meets hip-hop meets R&B sound is sure to move both body and mind. This family-friendly live performance is FREE and will include a specially commissioned piece by Ray Winder and her band that celebrates Juneteenth and the fearless expression of Black freedom. Come, bask in your freedom!

Juneteenth Festival and Marketplace: Sunday, June 19, from 3 pm to 7 p.m. at Eubie Blake National Jazz and Cultural Center. Celebrate African American culture and the principle of Ujima (collective work and responsibility) and Juneteenth. This year's celebration features more than 25 artists and performers. The experience will include poetry, dance, music, storytelling, and art and will present the self-determination, artistry, and faith of Black Baltimore.

Juneteenth Community Walk: Saturday, June 18, from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Pennsylvania Avenue A.M.E. Zion Church, 1128 Pennsylvania Avenue. Walking to raise funds to support educational opportunities for children, youth, and adults in Baltimore City's underserved communities. The goals are to do more to help the elementary schools in the community by offering tutoring sessions and camps, entrepreneur cohorts, computers, and other resources needed for diverse generations in the Heritage Crossing and Upton communities in Baltimore City.

Juneteenth par-tea: Saturday, June 18 from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., EMAGE Center: Dress up in your sun dress & hat for some tea party fun. Music, indoor & outdoor seating, tea party food, games, door prizes & more!

"On Juneteenth & Jubilee": Saturday, June 18 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Plantation Park Heights Urban Farm, 3811 Park Heights Avenue. Join to chat about the book On Juneteenth (Annette Gordon-Reed) and Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African American Cooking (Toni Tipton-Martin)! Annette Gordon-Reeds On Juneteenth provides a historians view of the countrys long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have endured in the century since, from Reconstruction through Jim Crow and beyond.

Baltimore County:Celebrate Our Day of Freedom: A free event will be held on Saturday, June 18 at Liberty Court Center, 8604 Liberty Road, in Randallstown. The event will be from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., with food trucks, vendors, music, games, health screenings and community resources.

Historic East Towson Juneteenth Music Festival: This will be held Sunday, June 19, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Elks Lodge, 411 E. Pennsylvania Avenue, in Towson. This event features jazz vocalist Michele Bowman, blues legend Mark Muleman Massey, Baltimore's hottest trumpeter, Brandon Woody, and more. Inspired by the Historic East Towson Renaissance Movement, the festival is a celebration of the hertitage, history, and culture of this storied community.

Juneteenth Celebration: Catonsville: Saturday, June 18 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum. Follow segments of the Underground Railroad with Harriet Tubman and listen to Master storytellers weave various stories of strength, honor and hope relevant to all cultures.

Anne Arundel County:Annapolis Juneteenth and Festival 2022: Saturday, June 18 from 12 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Bates Athletic Complex. This is the 2nd annual Annapolis parade and festival. This year, there will be an R&B main stage and a gospel main stage, featuring blockbuster headliners and a host of local talent. Fireworks will immediately follow the show. Last year over 65 organizations, bands, and clubs jammed the streets of Main and West as thousands aligned the sidewalks to witness history being made Annapolis' first celebration of Juneteenth.

Harford County: Hosanna School Museum's Upper Bay Juneteenth Festival: Saturday, June 18, Historic Hosanna Museum, 2424 Castleton Road, Darlington: The Hosanna School Museum's Upper Bay Juneteenth Festival will return to an in-person celebration on Saturday for its sixth-annual event to commemorate the end of slavery and celebrate African American history and culture.

Howard County:Juneteenth Celebration: Sunday, June 19, Wilde Lake High School, 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.: The Howard County Center of African American Culture's Juneteenth Celebration 2022 will be Sunday at Wilde Lake H.S. starting at 1:30 p.m. The event includes a musical interlude, presentation of the flag, music, poem readings and more.

Carroll County:Downtown Westminster's First Juneteenth celebration: Saturday, June 18, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., The Carroll Arts Center, 91 West Main Street in Westminster: The Juneteenth in Carroll Planning Committee is excited to announce the 1st Annual Juneteenth in Carroll! Join us at the Arts Center and the surrounding downtown area for an afternoon of live performances plus panel discussions, community vendors, food trucks, and kids activities.

Cecil County:Juneteenth celebration: Monday, June 20, 1 p.m., Cecilton Community Center, 30 Levi Coppin Street, Cecilton: Join various speakers and enjoy light refreshments.

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What is Juneteenth and where will it be celebrated in the Baltimore area? - wmar2news.com

Patriot Ledger staff| The Patriot Ledger

HINGHAM Paintings by Duxbury artist Gayle Loik will be on display in the Dolphin Gallery at the Hingham Public Library through June 24.A Duxbury resident, Loik was last year's winner of The Patriot Ledger's annual Christmas art contest. Her creation was featured on the newspaper's front page.The exhibit is titled "The Art of Gayle Loik: My Way," and is sponsored by the North River Arts Society. The library is at 66 Leavitt St. For more information, go tohinghamlibrary.org.

MILTON First Parish Churchwill hold a yard sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 18.Items for sale will includeart, books, collectibles, furniture, housewares, kitchen gadgets, sports equipment, toys, tools, clothing and jewelry.The yard sale is the church's annual fundraiser to raise money for itssocial justiceand outreach programs.First Parish is at535 Canton Ave.

QUINCY The documentary "A Symphony in Stone" will be shown at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, June 18, atFirst Presbyterian Church, 270 Franklin St.The event is hosted by theScots' Charitable Society,an organization that dates back to 1657 andprovides financial supportand scholarships topeople of Scottish descent in the Boston area.Producer Tony Burton will also be on hand to discuss the film, which celebratesGlasgows cityscape and architecture.To RSVP, visit http://www.addevent.com/event/GW13783580.

DUXBURY The 172th annual First Parish Church Fair will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 18, at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, 842 Tremont St(Route 3A) next to town hall.There will be food, games, face painting, a white elephant table, music and other entertainment. A live auction is scheduled for 10 a.m. The event will take place rain or shine. Admission is free. For more information, call781-934-6532 or visit uudux.org.

WEYMOUTH The Arc of the South Shore will host its ninthannual Summer Soiree and VIP Reception from 5 to 9 p.m. June 21 atthe Arcs day program facilities atWebb State Park.There will be food from local chefs, cocktails, entertainment, an auction, chances to win prizes and more. Billy Costa of KISS-108 will host.The VIP Reception is from 5 to 6:30 p.m.For more information, to register or learn about sponsorship, visit http://www.arcsouthshore.org or contact Brenda Linden at blinden@arcsouthshore.org or 781-335-3023 ext. 2222.

PLYMOUTH The Mayflower Society's first "Teddy Bear Picnic and Tea" is scheduled for 1 to 3 p.m. June 26 at The Mayflower Society, 18 Winslow St.Children 10 years old and youngerwill stuff a teddy bear and decorate a T-shirt. Activities willinclude games, stories, singing and dancing.Refreshments will be provided. The cost is $25 per child, who must be accompanied by an adult guardian.The Mayflower Society is a group that researches the lineage of the Pilgrims who traveled aboard the Mayflower in 1620. Members aredescendantsof the original passengers.Reservations are required; call 508-746-3188 ext. 25, or go online at http://www.eventbrite.com.

MILTON The"Dogwood Days" celebration is underway at the Mary Wakefield Arboretumthrough Sunday.The arboretum will be open to visitors daily, with hours subject to change. The arboretum is at 1465 Brush Hill Road. It features hundreds of blooming Kousa dogwood trees planted and cultivated by the late Polly Wakefield. Admission is $5.A full schedule of events, including family yoga and a wine and cheese tasting,is available at wakefieldtrust.org.For more information, call 617-333-0924 or email arboretum@dogwoodlanefarm.org.

QUINCY The Thomas Crane Public Library will throw a free 21-plus jazz party from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, June 17.There will be dancedemonstrations of the Lindy Hop and the Foxtrot, a silent film, vintage games, food, drink and other entertainment of the era.The library is at 40 Washington St.Reservations are not required.Attendees must show a photo ID. For more information, go to thomascranelibrary.org.

SCITUATE The Pilgrim Festival Singers, anonprofit community chorus based on the South Shore,will perform four concerts of songs from popular musicals this summer in a series titled "American Vignettes."The series kicks off at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 17, atFirst Trinitarian Congregational Church, 381 Country Way.The performance will include songs fromRodgers & Hammersteins Oklahoma!, Meredith Willsons The Music Manand Leonard Bernsteins West Side Story." There will also be a tribute to Stephen Sondheim, who died in November.Other shows are on Friday, June 18, at First Congregational Church in Plympton; June 25 at Central Congregational Church in Middleboro; and June 26 atSt. Bonaventure Parish,Plymouth.Tickets cost $10 at the door. For more information or to buytickets online, visit pilgrimfestivalchorus.org.

RANDOLPH The artwork of nine Randolph teenagers is on display in the first Teen Art Gallery exhibit at the Turner Free Library, 2 North Main St.The exhibit is the result of a program the library provided, funded by a grant from the Library Initiative for Teens and Tweens, in which teen art interns received$250 to work on a commissioned piece with artist Jamaal Eversley.The library is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday. For more information, go toturnerfreelibrary.org.

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Local briefs: Jazz bash in Quincy, big yard sale in Milton and teddy bear tea party - The Patriot Ledger

While colonial Americans and modern-day Americans do enjoy a good cup of tea, the reason coffee took such a stronghold here in the United States was simple: It was cheap to get. According to the Journal of theAmerican Revolution, coffee imported from Brazil or the Caribbean was cheaper than paying for the Chinese or Indian-imported tea from Britain. While tea could be withheld from the colonists under embargoes or restrictions, coffee was always available in case tea couldn't be acquired. The Journal for the American Revolution does note, however, that were some boycotts of tea in 1774, but they didn't last too long due to "too many fond memories."

Just what was the deal with coffee in colonial America then? According to the American Battlefield Trust, coffee houses were not only popular hang-out spots for gossip but also important centers for political discussion. Coffee also required a license to sell in those days, with a Massachusetts woman named Dorothy Jones being the first person to legally sell coffee in the colonies.

While we don't enjoy tea as much as our friends over in England, Americans can at least be proud of how much coffee we drink every year.

Read this article:
Did The Boston Tea Party Really Affect Americans' Preference For Coffee? - Mashed

If youve been in Rhode Island long enough, youve probably heard the story. In June 1772, a British customs schooner called the HMS Gaspee patrolling Narragansett Bay for smugglers and scofflaws made the fateful decision to chase a packet ship called the Hannah up toward Providence.

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The nimbler Hannah made it around the point that juts out into the bay. The Gaspee did not, running aground on what is now called Gaspee Point, a bit south of what is now Pawtuxet Park. A group of early Americans subjects of King George III, though that would soon change came down from Providence. Enraged about the Gaspees history of alleged harassment and years of rising tensions with crown authorities, they set her ablaze and shot her commander. The real shot heard round the world, some local historians say, hit Lieutenant William Dudingston in the groin. They brought the Gaspees crew on shore as prisoners, not too far from Pawtuxet Park.

This was not just some tea party.

In our opinion, its the start of the American revolution, said Steve Miller, president of the Gaspee Days committee. It was the first act of aggression against a British ship.

To celebrate it, as is the custom in this village that straddles Cranston and Warwick, a Gaspee replica would be set ablaze at around 4 p.m. if everything went according to plan. That is not always a given in the history of Gaspee Days, which has roots as a civic celebration in the 1960s. One year the lighter fluid on the replica ship dried up; they had to set it on fire with a grill starter. Other times theyve used matches.

This year, they went relatively high tech: The fire would be set remotely, with a wiring system involving cables leading to a replica Gaspee filled with kerosene-soaked hay and rigged with flammable sails. It had been a long few weeks the event is called Gaspee Days, after all, not just Gaspee Day and Miller couldnt help but worry. Everything had gone off without a problem so far, including a parade Saturday that brought out even bigger crowds than usual. But this was only the second time they were going to try the remote-starting thing.

Well all cross our fingers, Miller said.

As they waited, there was plenty of fun to be had by all in Pawtuxet Park: A historic militia group called the Pawtuxet Rangers set up an encampment, with realistic canvas tents, open-fire stoves and period outfits.

I brought me fife, said militia member Lee Singer, pointing to the musical instrument in her haversack.

The Pawtuxet Rangers were originally chartered in 1774, two years after the Gaspee affair as Americans and British continued to head on the path to war. Singer, who is from the Wakefield section of South Kingstown, was wearing a tri-corner hat with a black cockade, a waistcoat, fall-front breeches and buckles on her shoes. It all helped her get into the character. A majestic flying winged creature, so huge it didnt even need to flap its wings, roared by, headed to land in a big gray field nearby. Singer and fellow re-enactor Pam Burlingame looked up at it with amazement and confusion.

Ill give you some ale, lass, Burlingame told Singer, pouring her a sip of Diet Coke.

Yes, they were re-enacting colonial militia life, but no, theyre not purely loyal to the time: One participant was a corgi named Cadbury, wearing a dog-sized red Pawtuxet Rangers uniform with dog-sized medals, dog-sized tri-corner hat and dog-sized haversack.

Might march better than some people in the rangers, said Ron Barnes, the colonel commander of the Pawtuxet Rangers.

They had a chance to put that to the test just before 4 p.m., when a few cannons went off to prepare for the burning of the Gaspee. Re-enactors grabbed their haversacks and muskets and got in line, firing blanks vaguely in the direction of the replica Gaspee out in the water. (Historians are launching renewed efforts to find the actual Gaspee.)

Then a few minutes passed. As 4:05 became 4:10 and then 4:15, the crowd grew restless with anticipation.

The fog of battle obscured the exact cause of the malfunction. Some suggested the stores of kerosene may have been pilfered, so there was not enough to soak the hay in the ship. Or maybe the kerosene didnt reach all the way down to the igniters. Or the wind blew out the igniters before it got the chance to get fully involved.

Either way, the remote wiring system didnt work. So a man named Al Nazareth went out on the prow of the harbormasters boat and chucked a lighted flare into the pile of hay

That worked.

Burn it! Burn it! a child cried from shore as the flames ate away at the sails.

This is way better than a tea party, a man in the crowd said.

The burning on Sunday was preceded by the annual parade on Saturday, attended by local politicians and luminaries, costumed reenactors and actual National Guard members, fife and drum players, and scores of happy locals. Heres what Saturdays scene was like:

This article has been updated with additional photos from the Gaspee Days celebration on June 12, 2022.

Brian Amaral can be reached at brian.amaral@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44.

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Rhode Island celebrates 250th anniversary of the burning of the HMS Gaspee - The Boston Globe

It is a stunning juxtaposition: every two weeks courageous, fresh-faced teenagers make their way to the podium on the second floor of the Killingly Town Hall to plead for mental health services for the high school while Republican school board members stare blankly into the middle distance.

The stories these students tell, of the effect mental illness has had on themselves and on their friends, are heart-wrenching and difficult to listen to, which makes the utter lack of concern or empathy from those who voted against a school-based health center profoundly jarring.

In a normal world, 16- and 17-year-old students telling these heartfelt and deeply moving stories would elicit some sign of interest or concern from every school board member. The school board is, after all, charged with maintaining the effectiveness and quality of the educational experience of the Killingly school system.

But this is not a normal, or even a minimally humane, world. This is the world of the radical right, where nothing makes a great deal of sense. This is a world where there is an expressed concern for the individual and individual rights but only for some individuals and some individual rights.

This is a world where congressional Republicans are afraid to vote for even minimal gun restrictions background checks, age limits, assault weapons bans because the radical right would destroy their careers. The rights of schoolchildren and teachers, of grandparents Saturday shopping at a local market not to be gunned down in senseless slaughter? Well, that takes a back seat to the right of the individual to have as many weapons as he wishes, including those designed to serve no purpose other than waging war.

This is a world in which a search for historical truth takes a back seat to the needs of a national myth. Instead of bravely coming to grips with the terrible reality of our history of slavery, we must, depending on where we live, decide whether slavery was either a terrible moral mistake with lessons for our country going forward, or a really bad thing with isolated bright spots, or a sorta bad thing with a silver lining, or not nearly as bad as people say (there were lots of kind masters and anyway it was a long time ago).

If you think that a careful, intellectual search for the truth is good in general and good for students, then you will need to contend with the radical rights Critical Race Theory obsession (not that they understand what CRT is).

This a world in which the radical right argues that the freedom to not wear a mask or get a vaccine trumps the right of innocent people not to get a deadly disease (My body, my choice). But it is also a world where a bunch of old men can tell a woman she is guilty of murder for having an abortion (Your body, my choice?)

It is a world where non-partisan election officials are replaced by Stop the Steal election officials; it is a world where some members of Congress say with a straight face about an insurrectionist mob that took over the Capitol in Washington: It was a normal tour visit.

It is also, unfortunately, a world where the Republicans on the Killingly school board do not really believe in public education. Reportedly hand-picked by some local Tea Party Patriots, these school board members have latched solidly onto the latest culture wars wedge issue: parental rights.

First articulated back in the 1920s, the idea of parental rights was used to argue against the teaching of evolution and culminated in the famous Scopes Trial of 1925. It was also used around the same time by parents who wished to keep their children working on farms rather than going to school; the issues then were around child labor and the need for universal education in order for citizens to be participating members of a democracy.

The parental rights crowd was firmly in the you should be able to keep your kid working on the farm camp. Fortunately, despite this, child labor laws were passed in the 1930s. Now, it is the radical right that would like to see, under the umbrella of parental rights, the abolishment of public education as we know it.

The Tea Party Patriot web site calls for the closing of failing schools and for taxpayer-funded education of the parents choosing, including religious schools and the like. Are these Killingly school board members literally starving the schools they are supposed to be running and improving? Are they using a very serious mental health issue to push a favored, deeply ideological agenda, at the expense of the students?

How else to explain the striking lack of educational experience or expertise of those Republicans on the School Board. How else to explain the pathological lack of interest in the stories these students tell every two weeks? How else to explain the presence on the Board of Education of someone who until very recently was Vice President of the Connecticut chapter of the American Guard, a confirmed white supremacist organization but who, oddly, has no particular experience or expertise that would qualify him for a place on the Board of Education (readers need only Google the name Jason Muscara)?

So, ultimately, to live in the world of the Republican members of the Killingly school board is to live in a world where the individual rights of these board members and their right to carry forth an agenda of erosion of our public education system completely eclipses the right of the students in that system to a safe and robust educational experience.

That students in todays world, facing unparalleled stressors like school shootings, climate change, a horrible pandemic, and adults unwilling to let them begin to take responsibility for their own lives, might possibly need a sympathetic ear now and again should not come as a surprise.

That some members of the school board have effectively prevented them from accessing that sympathetic ear should also not come as a surprise. The radical rights ability to turn every humane, common sense solution to a problem into an existential threat to the continued existence of their myth of an unblemished nation that can do no wrong knows no bounds.

It is the quintessential reverse King Midas touch every attempt to move us forward, to make things better, is turned to dust. I will never understand it: why in the world do we again and again entrust our government and institutions to people who do not believe in government or those institutions?

John Day MD lives in Woodstock.

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Opinion: The Killingly school board's reverse Midas touch - The Connecticut Mirror