MIDDLETOWN – Yaa Yaa Whaley-Williams approached City of Middletown Mayor Joe DeStefano about a Juneteenth Celebration four years ago.
Whatever you need to make it happen, DeStefano told Whaley-Williams. The City is on board. The timing of the inaugural event was not perfect (during the COVID-19 pandemic), but Middletown’s Juneteenth Celebration continues to grow and flourish. It will be held again today in the city’s downtown and is co-sponsored by the City of Middletown and the Business Improvement District.
“Middletown has had a boost in Juneteenth awareness because of this event and we are hopeful that the holiday will receive even more recognition in Orange County and nationally,” Whaley-Williams said. “The word is spreading. I see different school districts hosting Juneteenth events and tagging us in social media posts, which is inspiring, and our sponsors have gone from about five to 30.”
Whaley-Williams owns Sadie’s Books & Beverages in downtown Middletown. According to Whaley-Williams, it is the first Black-owned bookstore in Orange County. Whaley-Williams will debut her book about the bookstore, My Trip To the Bookseum, at today’s Middletown’s Juneteenth celebration.
For more information about the event, visit https://www.middletownny.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=161.
Juneteenth, observed each year on June 19th, marks the emancipation of enslaved Africans in the United States. The holiday began in Texas, where on June 19, 1865, Union General Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3 in Galveston, proclaiming the freedom of enslaved people in Texas. This announcement occurred more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had officially ended slavery in the Confederate States.
Juneteenth became a Federal holiday in 2021.
“Celebrating Juneteenth is complex and vital to our understanding of freedom in America, particularly for African Americans,” said Ulster County Chief Diversity Officer Esi Lewis. “It reminds us of what we have overcome and achieved while encouraging us to continue our quest for equality. My favorite part is that Juneteenth is relevant to everyone in our way to express freedom and its evolution.”
