Join Elegba Folklore Society at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on June 7 – 8, at 5p on June 7 and at 2p on June 8, for a vast display of literature featuring topics including black history, social justice, science, health, African Diasporic culture, African spirituality, personal development, novels and children’s books. Short talks by independent authors and book signings, a keynote speaker, live performances plus the Freedom Market filled with unique finds, tasty food and beverages and highlighting the Get Woke Youth Summit compliment this conscious literary festival in observance of Juneteenth.
Kick off Juneteenth 2024, A Freedom Celebration featuring the Black Book Expo on June 7, and reserve your seat in bioethicist, researcher and author, Harriet Washington’s audience as she keynotes from her classic Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present — a National Book Critics Circle Award Winner. This book chronicles the first full history of Black America’s shocking mistreatment as unwilling and unwitting experimental subjects at the hands of the medical establishment. No one concerned with issues of public health and racial justice can afford not to read this masterful book.
The product of years of prodigious research into medical journals and experimental reports long undisturbed, Medical Apartheid reveals the hidden underbelly of scientific research and makes possible, for the first time, an understanding of the roots of the African American health deficit.
“[Washington] has unearthed a shocking amount of information
and shaped it into a riveting, carefully documented book.”
—New York Times
Others of Ms. Washington’s titles include:
A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind
Infectious Madness: The Surprising Science of How We “Catch” Mental Illness
Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself
And the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future
Carte Blanche: The Erosion of Medical Consent
The observance continues on Sunday, June 9 beginning at 2p at the Manchester Dock with A Tribute to the Ancestors, Along the Trail of Enslaved Africans. An evolutionary, experiential and visceral walk along the Trail of Enslaved Africans, attendees are invited to immerse themselves in past occurrences that impact our perspectives today. From the African arrival point at the Dock to Shockoe Bottom and the sites of holding pens, jails, blocks and African burial ground, interpreters will interweave the narratives of enslaved Africans with the historical record. Participants will have the chance to ponder the impact of enslavement on the enslaved as shared in their own words and from their own view. This program includes riverside meditative community rituals for Ancestral homage.
Juneteenth, A Freedom Celebration is Virginia’s flagship Juneteenth holiday commemoration. First presented in 1996, it is reflective of Richmond and Virginia’s particular and poignant stories of enslavement and emancipation, and it highlights the resolve and resilience of Africa’s children in America.
Richmond is ground zero with regards to the country’s evolution in its racial mores, disparities and hierarchies. Juneteenth, A Freedom Celebration will be a vital part of our community’s reset and healing.
The elders say, “We have to go out the way we came in.” The pathway is being established.
If you are attending on June 7, parking in the lot at our venue, the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, is free. 428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd. Arrive between 5p & 6p to also benefit from our BOGO half off ticket special — available at the door only.
If you are attending on June 8, parking in the VMHC lot costs $5 UNLESS you are among the first arrivals. If yes, your parking will be complimentary via a validation sticker. Get yours! Come early, stay late. Free on-street parking is also available.
If you are attending on June 9, your parking at the Manchester Dock is free. As the Trail of Enslaved Africans is linear and not circular, buses will meet you at the Walk’s end to return you to your car. There will also be food and drink at the Walk’s end the you can take with you. No need to worry about dinner!
