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On Thursday, June 19, the Drew County Chapter of the NAACP hosted the 1st annual Juneteenth Freedom Day celebration on the square in downtown Monticello. The event started at 12:15 p.m. and marked the first Juneteenth event held in the city of Monticello.
The celebration had several guest speakers who told the history of Juneteenth and the mission and purpose for the NAACP. There were also patrons who blessed those in attendance with beautiful songs.
Drew County NAACP Chapter President Clarissa Pace presented Certificates of Recognition to Tommy Daniels and the family of James Bealer to recognize the two men for all of their hard work and dedication to the local NAACP chapter.
Keynote speaker Barry Jefferson, NAACP Arkansas State Conference President, encouraged those in attendance to strive for Juneteenth to be every day, not just once a year. He also admonished the crowd that there is still work to be done.
Citizens had the opportunity to purchase Juneteenth flags in honor of loved ones, both living and passed. Bishop Michael Jones read the list of names of those honored with the flags.
‘There has been a lot of hard work put into this celebration,” Clarissa Pace said. “I’m excited, this is historic for Monticello. We have celebrated Juneteenth in Drew County for a long time, in Wilmar, but Monticello has our own flavor and we needed to have a celebration as well. I’m appreciative to the City of Monticello and Mayor Jason Akers for opening the doors for us to do this. I also appreciate those who supported us and purchased the memorial flags. Having the Juneteenth flags between the U.S. flags shows progress and unity. There was nothing negative, everything positive, and we all see that change is inevitable. We make the difference when we stand up and do the work.”
