Flag raising marks start of events celebrating Juneteenth

By Blake Apgar Las Vegas Review-Journal

8 years ago

Buffalo Soldiers Jon Jon Everet, left, Kelly Hawthorne and Keith Hill prepare to raise the official Juneteenth flag during a ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Southern Nevada Buffalo Soldiers Assistant Quartermaster Kelly Hawthorne during a Juneteenth flag raising ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

The official Juneteenth flag is raised during a ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Southern Nevada Buffalo Soldiers Assistant Quartermaster Kelly Hawthorne looks on as Sen. Aaron D. Ford, D-Nev., speaks during a Juneteenth flag raising ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Buffalo Soldier Carla Stice reads a proclamation from Las Vegas Mayor Caroline Goodman during a Juneteenth flag ceremony raising outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Sen. Aaron D. Ford, D-Nev., center, poses with members of the Southern Nevada Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Association during a Juneteenth flag raising ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Sen. Aaron D. Ford, D-Nev., speaks to a small crowd during a Juneteenth flag raising ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Buffalo Soldier Vince Dillard sings the national anthem during a Juneteenth flag raising ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

State Director for the National Juneteenth Foundation Gary Teeluv Williams sings the black national anthem during a Juneteenth flag raising ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

Members of the Southern Nevada Buffalo Soldiers 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Association Keith Hill, left, Kelly Hawthorne and Jon Jon Everet raise the official Juneteenth flag during a ceremony outside Las Vegas City Hall in downtown Las Vegas on Thursday, June 15, 2017. Richard Brian Las Vegas Review-Journal @vegasphotograph

A trio of Buffalo Soldier re-enactors raised a flag Thursday outside Las Vegas City Hall to mark the start of events celebrating Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the United States

About a dozen people gathered at 8:30 a.m. to recognize Juneteenth, which falls on Monday. Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued an order to slaves in Galveston, Texas, informing them they were free — about 2 ½ years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

The event was hosted by the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation, which worked with retired Assemblyman Harvey Munford in 2011 to make Nevada the 39th state to recognize the day.

“We call it the second Independence Day,” said Deborah Evans, spokeswoman for the foundation.

The Buffalo Soldier re-enactors — dressed as members of the all-black cavalry regiments that formed after the Civil War — raised the red and blue flag Thursday as another person sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” known as the black national anthem. The ceremony was designed to honor the 20,000 black sailors who fought in the Civil War, Evans said.

State Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford, D-Las Vegas, delivered a 10-minute speech at a lectern on the sidewalk about the history of the day and Nevada’s history of desegregation.

The flag raising was the first of five events hosted by the foundation over the next several days.

Evans said the group has made progress in bringing awareness to the day. This year’s events have received more attention than in past years, she said Wednesday.

“And one day we may have fireworks coming out of the casinos,” she said. “Maybe.”

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.