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Vol. 40 • No. 21• Thurs., June 17, 2021 - Wed., June 23, 2021 • An NCON Publication Serving The Milwaukee Area • 75¢
Milwaukee Times hosts 2021 Louvenia Johnson Scholarship Awards
Photos by Yvonne Kemp
On Sunday, June 13, 2021 The Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper hosted the 2021 Louvenia Johnson Scholarship Awards at the WAAW Center, 3020 West Vliet Street. The scholarship was started by Milwaukee Times co-founder Louvenia Johnson on February 27, 1988 at the third annual Black Excellence Awards Program. The Louvenia Johnson Journalism Scholarship Fund was established in recognition of the outstanding contributions Mrs. Johnson has made in fostering journalism excellence in all areas of the community. Normally the scholarships are presented at the Times' Annual Black Excellence Awards, but due to COVID-19 the event was postponed this year. However, the Times was able to present the scholarship awards to the twelve outstanding students at a much smaller, more intimate event. The twelve student recipients this year were Janae Adams, Trinay Austin (not pictured), Davidi Alepembwe, Shaylin Crosby, Jonillia Davis, Stephawn Easley, Leroy Hope, Jakobie Jackson, Anyiah Lobley, Jalen Reed, Monica Slade and Joshua Wilder. The keynote speaker was University of Wisconsin-Parkside Vice Chancellor for Advancement Willie Jude II, M.Ed (Top photo, left).
What Is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth commemorates the effective end of slavery in the United States in the United States and is considered the Juneteenth and slavery in Texas longest-running African American holiday. In Texas, slavery had continued as the state experienced no large-scale fighting or Confederate General Robert E. Lee had significant presence of Union troops. Many surrendered at Appomattox Court House enslavers from outside the Lone Star State two months earlier in Virginia, but slavery had moved there, as they viewed it as a safe had remained relatively unaffected in Tex- haven for slavery. as—until U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General OrAfter the war came to a close in the spring ders No. 3: “The people of Texas are in- of 1865, General Granger’s arrival in Galformed that, in accordance with a procla- veston that June signaled freedom for Texmation from the Executive of the United as’s 250,000 enslaved people. Although States, all slaves are free.” emancipation didn’t happen overnight for everyone—in some cases, enslavers withThe Emancipation Proclamation held the information until after harvest seaThe Emancipation Proclamation issued son—celebrations broke out among newby President Abraham Lincoln on January ly freed Black people, and Juneteenth was 1, 1863, had established that all enslaved born. That December, slavery in America people in Confederate states in rebellion was formally abolished with the adoption against the Union “shall be then, thenceforof the 13th Amendment. ward, and forever free.”
Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery An NCON Communications Publication
But in reality, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t instantly free any enslaved people. The proclamation only applied to places under Confederate control and not to slave-holding border states or rebel areas already under Union control. However, as Northern troops advanced into the Confederate South, many enslaved people fled behind Union lines.
The year following 1865, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of "Jubilee Day" on June 19. In the ensuing decades, Juneteenth commemorations featured music, barbecues, prayer services and other activities, and as Black people migrated from (Continued on pg. 8) www.milwaukeetimesnews.com