DOORS 5:30PM • SHOWTIME 6:30PM
The Vogel • Basie Center Campus • 99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank

Count Basie Center Gospel Choir and Gwen Moten’s From Birmingham to Botswana
Performer & Poet Italy Lee
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company’s Red Bank Community
Vocalist Layonne Holmes
Percussionist and Educator Ty Laws
Pastor Terrance Porter

Join the Count Basie Center for the Arts and other Red Bank-area communities and organizations as we celebrate the Juneteenth holiday. featuring a performance by the Count Basie Center Gospel Choir, lead by Music Director Gwen Moten and assistant music director Dr. B Dexter Allgood, Moten’s performance of From Birmingham to Botswana, and more.

As History.com notes, Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday.

Visit the Count Basie Center’s Community & Cultural Events calendar page for other area Juneteenth celebrations and commemorations.