Mayor McCullough proclaims June 19, 2025 Juneteenth; organizers outline events

Mayor Karen McCullough on June 3 issued a proclamation declaring Thursday, June 19, 2025, as Juneteenth in the City of Manhattan and urged citizens to join community events honoring the date’s significance.

"Now, therefore, I, Karen McCullough, mayor of the City Of Manhattan, do hereby declare Thursday, 06/19/2025 as Juneteenth in the City Of Manhattan," McCullough said during the meeting.

Local organizer Betty Oh outlined planned events and invited the public to participate. "Hello. I'm Betty Oh. And, on Friday, June 13, starts at 05:30. We're gonna have a grilling contest," Oh said. She described music, food, prize giveaways and a speaker, Curtis Pitts, who will discuss Juneteenth history, and she invited residents to City Park Friday evening and to the Douglas Activity Center on Saturday for a Unity Walk and youth programming. "Unity Walk will start at 10:30. We'll get together at 10. There'll be some preliminaries, and then the walk will be from Longs Park down to the Douglas Activity Center," Oh said.

Oh, who acknowledged earlier local Juneteenth organizers including Diane Caldwell, Donnie Slater and Dave Baker, asked the community to attend and learn about the importance of the day. McCullough’s proclamation text, read at the podium, referenced the Emancipation Proclamation and the date when enslaved people in Texas learned of their freedom on June 19, 1865.

Organizers said the events will feature vendors, food, music including an R&B/funk band and community activities for young people. The proclamation and event announcements were presented as part of the meeting’s ceremonial proclamations and not as a commission action requiring a vote.