[06/15/01] Paying homage to ancestors and savoring freedom are the motivations behind the celebration of Juneteenth Saturday in Marcus Bottom on Halls Ferry Road.

The celebration is in honor of the 1865 landing of Union troops, led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, in Texas to free one of the last strongholds of slavery in the post-Civil War United States. But, the day came to be largely overlooked as people focused on the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 as bringing an end to slavery.

Juneteenth was resurrected in many cities throughout the nation during the 1950s and ’60s due to the Civil Rights movement and the pride it brought back to the black community. This resurgence came to a head in 1980 when Texas became the first state to make Juneteenth an official state holiday.

This year’s Vicksburg celebration, themed “Lest We Forget,” is the the city’s fifth such celebration, and it will be the second year for the street festival.

During the celebration, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Halls Ferry Road will be closed from Bowmar Avenue to Lane Street.

Before last year’s celebration, Juneteenth had been a smaller, more informal event. Its expansion is due in part to the effort of Ezell McDonald, owner of The Heritage Center.

“I thought it was time for Vicksburg to get on the map like other cities in the nation and have a big celebration like the ones they already had in Natchez and other cities around Mississippi,” said McDonald.

The day’s activities include a Freedom Walk, book signings by authors Pamela Gwen, Anfra Boyd, Sandra L. Jenkins and David Jefferson and musical performances by Nathaniel Williams and the Mighty Train of Gospel, the Cool Springs Inspirational Choir, The Swartz Brothers, The Willie Foster Blues Band, London Branch Quartet, Big Moody and the Magnolia Blues Band and the River City Band.