With all the commotion and all the stuff going on in my life, I missed this one:
JUNETEENTH
Statue unveiling ‘joyous’ despite rain
Celebration of the day Texas’ slaves learned they were free is forced indoors
— reported by the Houston ChronicleHeavy rain moved a Juneteenth ceremony indoors as a statue marking the state holiday was unveiled Monday morning.
The 9-foot bronze statue stood outside the Ashton Villa although most of the 150 in attendance got a passing glance at it inside the historic mansion at 2300 Broadway.
The statue, created by Eddie Dixon of Lubbock, depicts a man holding the state law that made Juneteenth a state holiday in 1979.
[snip]
Monday marked the 27th year that people have gathered to celebrate Juneteenth. Doug Matthews, chairman of the Texas Emancipation Juneteenth Cultural and Historical Commission advisory committee, said the first year there were about seven people, compared with the 150 who showed up Monday while thunderstorms drenched the area.
[snip]
