6-episode docufilm Premiers 6/19 @ 9:00am
The Juneteenth Story From Galveston, Texas to Minnesota, is a six-episode docufilm, filmed on the Island of Galveston and in Saint Paul, Minnesota, telling the story of Juneteenth, where it originated, from historians and descendants of enslaved persons transported to the Island during the transatlantic slave trade between 1816 and 1836. The story connects the significance of making Juneteenth a state holiday in Minnesota. With the goal of uniting and educating the community about the meaning of Juneteenth, the film draws the connection to Minnesota and the significance of making Juneteenth a state holiday. The film, edited down to 30-minutes for television and streaming broadcasts also draws the close connection that water has to the enslaved captives and their descendants. The theme song, Water Cries, written and composed by Thomasina Petrus and Walter Chancellor, Jr. describes how water takes on the image of its environment and pays homage to Black Indians who were in America long before the colonizers arrived on the Eastern Shore and fought hard for their survival before the Indian removal act was signed into law in 1830.
Appearance by . . .
Melvin Carter, Mayor of Saint Paul, MN
History of Juneteenth
The issue of General Order No. 3 by Union troops on June 19, 1865, marked the official end of slavery in Texas and the U.S. On that Monday, enslaved African Americans in Texas learned of their freedom. That day of liberation became known as Juneteenth, when the Emancipation Proclamation was announced by Union troops in Galveston, Texas. June 17, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law legislation making Juneteenth a federal holiday. February 3, 2023, MN Governor Tim Walz signed legislation making Juneteenth a state holiday.
Civil Rights Movement Timeline
Galveston and the Beginning of Juneteenth
Reflection from The Juneteenth Story Producer, Monique Linder
