Juneteenth celebrations kick off in Boston with concert at Embrace monument

BOSTON – Juneteenth is on Monday, June 19th, but events began in Boston with a concert Wednesday morning at the “Embrace” monument on Boston Common.

The concert is part of Embrace Boston’s second annual Embrace Ideas Festival for Juneteenth.

“I think the beautiful part about recognizing holidays is you get the opportunity to see the things that are important to other communities and also see yourself in each other,” said Gregory Ball, Embrace Boston’s Director of Production and Digital Strategy.

The theme of the festival this year is “Here and Present, the Art of Reclaiming Space and Time.”

“Really the best parts of Boston is the learning of Boston so we spend the first few days with panels, discussions and then at the end of the week, we have our block party,” Ball said.

Events will take place over the next three days, including a panel at MassArt about creativity and Black resistance, a panel on cooking and a cooking competition at Roxbury Community College and a block party on Friday. The block party will also be held at Roxbury Community College. 

“We hope people walk through the Juneteenth door that’s closest to them and really start celebrating and centering Black folks,” said Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of Embrace Boston.

All the events and panels are sold out but the block party is free and open to the public.