Monday June 19
LAFAYETTE, LA — Move the Mindset (MTM) invites the public to join a free event in remembrance and celebration of Juneteenth on Monday, June 19.
The commemoration will take place at the Downtown Convention Center located at 124 South Buchanan St, Lafayette, LA 70501. Doors open at 5:30pm, and the official program begins at 6pm.
Juneteenth commemoration marks the freeing of the last 4 million men, women, and children that were enslaved at the start of the American Civil War.
The day is also remembered as Freedom Day and America’s Second Independence Day. The late Fredrick Prejean, MTM’s Founder and First President (2016-2022), once recounted: “That long awaited moment had arrived. Freedom filled the air with a vision of hope and new beginnings. The weight of chains representing the pain of enslavement was slowly dissipating and replaced with a joyful emotion of unfamiliarity. A joyful heart began dancing on the wind because freedom had finally come.”
Toni Ventroy will be the Mistress of Ceremony. Speakers include Dr. Joy Banner (Keynote Speaker, The Descendants Project), Matthew Miles (SLCC), Judy Daniels (Women of Wisdom), Ravis K. Martinez (NAACP), Frank Crocco (MTM President), and Ola Prejean (MTM Vice-President).
