juneteenth 2022

19 jubilant Juneteenth Houston events toast the day with parades, parties, and more

Legendary act Kool & the Gang will perform at the Juneteenth Parade and Emancipation Park 150th Juneteenth Weekend Festival.

Kool & the Gang/

While Juneteenth became a federal holiday only last year and state holiday in 1980, in the Gulf Coast region, locals have been celebrating since 1865. The cherished holiday marks the day Union soldiers arrived in Galveston and declared to the slaves there that they had been freed.

Sadly it took two years for news that President Abraham Lincoln has issued the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation to reach area slaves. But rather than react with anger at the delay, they immediately toasted the discovery that they were free with dance, feasts, prayers, and more.

Here in Houston and Galveston, a host of Juneteenth-themed events abound. CultureMap news partner ABC13 will televise and stream the Juneteenth Parade and Emancipation Park 150th Juneteenth Weekend Festival (Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19).

The event celebrates the story of Jack Yates, an slave who raised $1,000 to purchase the 10 acres of land that is now Emancipation Park. Look for musicians and entertainers Earnest Pugh, Zacardi Cortez, Monica Lisa Stevenson, and Pastor Mike, the Isley Brothers, Kool & the Gang, and Frankie Beverly and Maze.

Celebrate the momentous and historic day with these lively events that include parades, treats, music, art, comedy, and more.

Friday, June 17

40 Acres will host a four-day, Juneteenth Weekend Extravaganza, filled with a bevy of events. We're talking about a for-the-culture game night, a cookout where fathers can get a free meal, painting, a know-to-vote lunch for felons and first-time voters, etc. 11 am.

The Cupcake Kitchen Houston, a Black female-owned bakery and soul food restaurant in Third Ward, will offer special dishes all weekend at $6.19. They will have "Juneteenth Sweets & Eats" specials, including Southern grilled oxtail quesadillas and homemade banana pudding. Noon.

Home2 Suites By Hilton Houston Pearland will host a weekend-long, Black Girls Rule Juneteenth Freedom Ride. Join BGR for a weekend of sisterhood and fellowship, as they ride in and around Houston in celebration of freedom. 4 pm.

POST Houston will be the spot for the Juneteenth Freedom Weekend, an in-person/live stream experience that will combine cashflow, community, and culture in an entertaining festival setting. (POST will also host the Black Is Primary Juneteenth Festival on Saturday.) 4 pm.

The DeLuxe Theater will celebrate Juneteenth and Black Music Month with a film screening of the award-wining film Memory Builds the Monument. This short documentary highlights the cultural and social challenges of African-American Houstonians in the '40s, '50s, and '60s. 7 pm.

Phil & Derek's Restaurant & Jazz Lounge will host the Father's Day and Juneteenth Weekend Comedy Jamz. Enjoy cocktails with the old man as Ray Etc and Larry A. Goodwell serve as the evening's comedy headliners. 7:30 pm.

Saturday, June 18

Start off the day with Mayor Turner’s Annual Acres Homes Juneteenth Parade. Parade begins at Acres Homes Multi-Service Center, travels north on W. Montgomery, west on Dolly Wright and ends at Greater Zion Missionary Baptist Church. 9 am.

Children's Museum Houston will be honoring Juneteenth with drumming, storytelling, dramatization, interactive activities and so much more. And don't forget about the special appearances from author Jatrean Sanders and Black Panther! 10 am.

Buffalo Soldiers National Museum invites you to celebrate Juneteenth with them. Enjoy a live art session with artist/art professor Lauren Luna, tours, Living History Tours, a live DJ, food truck and a cash bar. Noon.

The Juneteenth celebration at the historic Hopewell Rosenwald School will include an open house/tour of the school. There will be a sampling of foods (including barbecue and potato salad), games for the entire family, and former students from throughout the county are invited to share their oral history. Noon.

Over at Club Sienna's Juneteenth Jubilee, Reggie Jamz will perform Motown and R&B classics, and artist ANGE will give a speed painting performance. A variety of food trucks will be on-site and local vendors will have candles, clothing, jewelry, tea, children’s books, and more for sale. 6 pm.

713 Music Hall will have a Juneteenth HBCU Alliance Music Fest & Scholarship Benefit, featuring Wale, Lucky Daye, Chrisette Michele and others. All proceeds will go to the TSU & PV National Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. 7:30 pm.

Sunday, June 19

The Plant Project will have a Juneteenth celebration rich with history, heritage, and plenty of plants. The free, family-friendly event will focus on sharing the important cultural history of June 19th and ways to create a greener tomorrow. 11 am.

BLCK Market will present a its third annual Juneteenth celebration at East River HTX. Experience the culture with their unique vendors (100 small black businesses and entrepreneurs will be on hand), live music and food trucks. 1 pm.

Buddy's Houston will hold a Juneteenth Black Pride Drag Brunch. Tamar Jazelle Paris will host not one, but two most-likely-to-be-fierce drag shows, while Chef Tae will serve up the amazing food. 1 pm.

MacGregor Park will be the location for the Juneteenth Slabs N Crawfish Fest. Spend Juneteenth (and Father's Day) checking out all the fly rides, while also chowing down on some choice mudbugs. 3 pm.

Desert Door will present a proclamation dinner that will celebrate Juneteenth and include a special listening session of Youth Soul Love's latest album, MADE. This event will feature a gourmet meal and high tea created by Chef Vicky, as well as curated cocktails. 6 pm.

Juneteenth: The Journey To Freedom will play over at Miller Outdoor Theatre. It's a performance filled with dramatic visuals, live music, narrations, and dance that tells the story of African Americans from 1865 to today and their journey to the celebration of freedom. 8:30 pm.

holidays event-planner

Movie Review

Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve face a cultural deep end in Fjord

Photo courtesy of Neon

Sebastian Stan is Mihai, a father of five, in the Norway-set film Fjord.

In modern society, where fear of “the other” has made many people into insular creatures, it has become easy to get locked into one point of view. The new film Fjord will be a challenging one for many viewers, as it puts forth a situation that confronts narrow-minded thinking and forces even those who think they’re open-minded to re-evaluate their own biases.

Mihai (Sebastian Stan) and Lisbet (Renate Reinsve) are a married couple who have just moved back to Lisbet’s home country of Norway. They have five children, all of whom were born in Romania, Mihai’s home country. The family, which is part of an unspecified Evangelical Christian sect, runs into issues almost right away when their oldest daughter, Elia (Vanessa Ceban), shows up to school with bruises on her body.

A well-intentioned but perhaps overzealous Child Protective Services system gets put into motion, resulting in the children being removed from the home while Mihai and Lisbet are being investigated. The parents, while acknowledging some minor physical punishment, deny doing anything that would cause bruising, and the possible failings of the system mostly get ignored despite a lack of hard evidence.

Written and directed by Cristian Mungiu, the film is an infuriating watch due to its depiction of a system that seems to be oblivious to its own faults. But it’s also illuminating, as the cultural and linguistic divide that exists between the characters in the film could just as easily be applied to those viewing it. Misunderstandings arise as people switch between Norwegian, English, and Romanian, and interpretations of different words or phrases play a crucial role in how people and actions are perceived.

But the film is about much more than just language mix-ups. Mungiu is purposefully vague about Mihai and Lisbet’s religion, but it’s clear that it leans conservative. This puts them at odds with a liberal society in Norway, and more than one character voices their disapproval of the family’s beliefs. The film is framed in such a way, though, that it’s those who are seemingly most progressive who can’t get over their own prejudices, with Mihai and Lisbet rarely being able to object to how they’re being treated.

The cold and forbidding landscape adds to the drama of the film, especially when Mungiu includes side stories from Mihai and Lisbet’s neighbors about, for example, a rebellious neighbor daughter or their ailing father. While those elements don’t impact the plot much, they add complexity to the film as a whole and demonstrate that some characters are more than who they seem to be on the surface.

Stan, who’s had notable roles in recent years in A Different Man and The Apprentice, puts in another solid performance that is less showy. With a bald head and stoic-but-firm demeanor, he brings depth to a potentially unlikable character. Reinsve, coming off the success of Backrooms, is the emotional center of the film and demonstrates chemistry with Stan after co-starring in A Different Man. The supporting cast is all solid, especially the actors portraying lawyers, who bring to life a system that seems much different from that in the U.S.

Fjord does not play out like a typical American film would if it were depicting a similar situation, and by holding back where western storytellers wouldn’t, it allows viewers to make up their own minds on who is right or wrong. Many things go unspoken in the film, and the debate on what should happen with Mihai, Lisbet, and their family continues even after the film ends.

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Fjord is now playing in select theaters.

movies film fjord