The Sullivan County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held a Juneteenth celebration and barbecue at The Black Library in Monticello on Wednesday, June 19, or Juneteenth. 

Prior to the main event, community members were also invited to the voter registration booth in front of The Black Library from 10 a.m. to Noon. 

Juneteenth is a celebration of the end of slavery for Black Americans which is marked by 2,000 U.S. Army troops arriving in Galveston Bay, Texas, to emancipate over 250,000 enslaved Black Americans on June 19, 1865. 

There were multiple speakers for the event, including locals and the Keynote Speaker of the event Adrienne Jensen, Executive Director of Evergreen Meadow Services. The second Vice President of the Sullivan County Branch of the NAACP, Alasha Santiago, emceed the event. 

The other speakers were Sandra Oxford, the first Vice President of the Sullivan County Branch of the NAACP; the President of the Sullivan County Branch of the NAACP David Jett and District 8 Legislator Amanda Ward. 

Before the speakers, vocalist Jada Jones sang “Lift Every Voice, and Sing” which is known as the National Black Anthem, written by NAACP Leader James Weldon Johnson.