Groups in Hazard are coming together today to celebrate Juneteenth with a “Lunch and Learn” event.
It’s being organized by officials from Perry County, Hazard Community and Technical College and the Southeast Kentucky African American Museum and Cultural Center.
Emily Hudson is the Cultural Center’s executive director. She says the event is part of their work to teach Black history in eastern Kentucky.
“We're trying to work with our schools to get this education in, so that this young generation would know their local history and how folks in the past had an impact on the culture here, growing up in the hills,” Hudson said.
Juneteenth marks the day when the last group of enslaved people in Galveston, Texas finally learned of their freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed two years earlier.
Hudson says that has relevance in eastern Kentucky, too.
“Even in Kentucky, that news was late reaching folks who were enslaved here,” Hudson said. “And some folks, you know, they say well, we didn't have any enslaved people, but we did.”
The lunch includes food traditionally prepared and served during Juneteenth celebrations. It’s scheduled from 12 to 2 p.m. at the ArtStation in downtown Hazard.
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