The Juneteenth Story: From Galveston, TX To Minnesota

The Juneteenth Story From Galveston, Texas to Minnesota, is a six-episode docufilm (edited to a 30-minute film for television and streaming broadcasts), 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. The full episodic docufilm is available online at kzmohd.com.

Watch 6-episode docufilm here.

We are grateful to MN Humanities Center and Ujamaa Place for supporting our cultural films.  As our OMG Studios’ cultural sustainability promise states:  “music and art are essential to human survival and development,” it is our truth and belief that guides us when telling American history through cultural film-making, which would not be possible without the support from  community partners.  The creative music collaboration with legendary Jazz saxophonist Walter Chancellor, Jr. and the incomparable Jazz vocalist Thomasina Petrus produced the soundtrack for the film “Water Cries” reflecting how water takes on the color of its environment and its deep connection with the slave trade.  The song pays tribute to author Anthony Griffin’s story of the slave warehouse in Galveston, TX in his new  book “The Water Cries.”  You will feel the pain and struggle of our enslaved ancestors and the heart beat of Native Americans who here long before the arrival of the first slave ship in America.

Please send your comments and stories to me at: kzmoinfo@kzmohd.com.