Southern University puts an emphasis on celebrating Juneteenth

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Southern University honored Juneteenth with a full day of events to celebrate African American history.

“Being a leader is liberating within itself,” said Southern University NAACP Chapter President Jodeci Ashford. “Being a part of the Southern University NAACP Chapter, it took me places, and I just want to keep spreading the word and keep spreading the advocacy, and that’s the most important thing.”

Juneteenth is more than just a holiday at Southern; it’s a celebration of culture and resilience.

Dawn Kight said it’s important for schools like southern to celebrate this holiday due to the opportunities that followed.

“It’s truly important for Southern to celebrate freedom,” said Kight. “Juneteenth is all about the day when slavery ended and when slaves knew that slavery had ended. So, with Southern being an educational institution and being established in 1880, not long after Juneteenth in 1865, to provide education to enslaved people.”

This year’s theme is honoring and shaping the future, which brought the community together for a day of learning but also serving as a reminder to never forget where you came from.

“It means to never forget where you came from,” said Kight. “We do not want to forget those who fought those who experienced pain and struggle to help us get to where we are today. So we want to honor our legacy but definitely want to play a major part in shaping our future.”

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