The city of Dothan is starting their Juneteenth celebrations early. The non-profit organization Tri-State Expo Juneteenth Affairs is hosting their fourth annual Juneteenth Parade and Celebration Saturday, June 1.
Juneteenth is every June 19 and celebrates the day enslaved people in Galveston, TX discovered they were free.
Evangeline Reynolds-Gunn, the executive director and director of programs and affairs for Tri-State Expo Juneteenth Affairs, said the parade celebrates not only the larger Juneteenth holiday, but also Alabama ratifying the 13th Amendment.
“It also celebrates the 1865 triumph here in the state of Alabama in December of 1865, when the 13th Amendment was ratified. So during that entire celebration, not only are we educating individuals on how all of this transpired, but we spotlight the achievements of African Americans and other minority individuals within the tristate area since that time period,” Reynolds-Gunn said.
The parade will feature various bands, drumlines, cheerleaders and organizations. The parade will also have historical floats including one that focuses on aspects of the Civil War that occurred in Alabama.
Following the parade, there will be further programming in the Dothan Civic Center where attendees can see drumline and dance competitions, a choral presentation, and partake in the expo.
Reynolds-Gunn said having events focused on telling history in an accurate way allows people to prevent history become “watered down” or lost.
“Individuals may not want to dive into the waters of truth, [but] we cannot allow our history to be watered down into inaccuracies that eliminate the truth, we have to embrace the truth whether it’s uncomfortable or not, for that history not to be lost,” she said.
While Juneteenth is recognized as a federal holiday, not all states recognize it as a state holiday. Alabama is one of them.
Gov. Kay Ivey has authorized Juneteenth as a holiday since 2021; however, there is no legislation in the state that recognizes it as a state holiday.
“Our legislator in our 85th district, Rick Rehm, has championed a bill that would get Juneteenth on the state calendar permanently. Since 2021, Governor Kay Ivey has made a declaration and that's very generous of her to do so, but she has put it in the hands of the legislators to make up a bill that would put the Juneteenth holiday on the state calendar permanently,” Reynolds-Gunn said.
The fourth annual Tri-State Expo Juneteenth Parade and Celebration will take place in downtown Dothan followed by programming in the Dothan Civic Center. More information on the event is on the Tri-State Juneteenth Affairs website.
