Janine Bell recounts Juneteenth origins, invites Richmond to freedom celebration

Janine Bell, president and artistic director of the Elegba Folklore Society, addressed Richmond in a recorded message explaining the history of Juneteenth and inviting the public to a local freedom celebration.

"Hey Richmond, I'm Janine Bell, president and artistic director of Elegba Folklore Society," Bell said, opening her remarks and naming the topic: Juneteenth. She called the day an essential part of local and national memory.

Bell traced the holiday to the Civil War era, explaining that the Emancipation Proclamation issued Jan. 1, 1863, "declared legally free" enslaved people in Confederate states but was not enforced in some areas still under Confederate control. She said that in Texas—then the westernmost Confederate state—enslaved people "didn't benefit for two more years."

Bell said that on June 19, 1865, "around 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay and enforced that the more than 250,000 enslaved Africans in Texas were free," and that many of those soldiers were United States Colored Troops. "The newly freed community called this day Juneteenth," she said, adding that the observance gave new meaning to Independence Day.

Bell noted recent official recognition, saying Juneteenth became a holiday in Virginia in 2020 and a national holiday in 2021. She described that recognition as "long overdue" and said the day and the legacy of ancestors are reminders that "freedom is a human right."

She closed by asking listeners to follow the Elegba Folklore Society and to join the organization's Juneteenth freedom celebration in Richmond.

The recording serves as both a brief history lesson and a community invitation; it does not contain policy proposals or formal actions by public officials.