Our show today is dedicated to the Juneteenth holiday which is this Saturday, June 19, 2021. Juneteeth is the date that enslaved blacks from Texas were officially emancipated. The story has been told that enslaved blacks in Texas were freed 2 years late this is based on President Lincoln's issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The reality is much more complicated than that but what is true is that enslaved blacks in Texas have celebrated this date since 1866. It has become a date that people around the world use to acknowledge this dark era in human history. The album 'Two & 1/2 Years: A Musical Celebration To The Spirit Of Juneteenth' produced by artist Robert Hodge is a music project aimed at bringing the Juneteeth story to a young audience.
The Houston Jazz Spotlight is a labor of love by Visual Artist, Jazz Historian, and DJ, Tierney L. Malone.