Cary's Juneteenth Celebration - Triangle on the Cheap

The Town of Cary is hosting a Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 19th, 2021, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., at Sertoma Amphitheater at Bond Park. It’s a free event.

Town of Cary’s Juneteenth Celebration Schedule

1 p.m.: Welcome Procession by the Magic of African Rhythm Drummers
1:10 p.m.: Welcome Address & Proclamation with Cary Town Council and Darrel Stover
1:20 p.m.: Lift Every Voice and Sing by Al Strong Quintet
1:30 p.m.: Significance of Juneteenth and Emancipation with Dr. Reginald Hildebrand
1:45 p.m.: Freedom Interpretation with Carolyn Evans and Tom Hancock
1:55 p.m.: Gospel selection with Lynette Barber
2 p.m.: Freedom Come to North Carolina with Michelle Lanier
2:10 p.m.: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s The Colored Soldiers with Mitch Capel
2:25 p.m.: Collective Close in Song with Jasme Kelly

Performers

The Magic of African Rhythm Drummers
The Magic of African Rhythm are the diasporic jeli (jah-lee) of the afro-future, preserving the traditions of Africa on the western side of the Atlantic’s bridge. Company members call Guinea, Liberia, Barbados, and North Carolina their home. The Magic of African Rhythm brings you dance, drum, melodic instruments, and song in their performances.

Dr. Reginald Hildebrand
Reginald F. Hildebrand was a Professor of African American Studies and History at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After retiring from UNC, he served for three years as an adjunct instructor of history at Durham Technical Community College. He is author of “The Times Were Strange and Stirring: Methodis Preachers and the Crisis of Emancipation” (Duke University Press, 1995), and is currently working on a book with the working title, “‘The Cleverest Document Issued This Century’: Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Meanings of Freedom.”

Carolyn Evans and Tom Hancock
Carolyn Evans, a New York Actress, Poet and Storyteller, has been reprising the role of the most courageous Conductor on the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman, for over 20 years. Her first introduction to the stage began over fifty years ago. Through her celebrated series, “My Spirit Sings, Women Who Could’ve Sung The Blues But Didn’t”, Ms. Evans also portrays Sojourner Truth, Mamie Till, Mary Ann Cord, Stage Coach Mary Fields, Fannie Lou Hamer, Margru Of The Amistad and Harriet Jacobs.

Tom’s storytelling and oral history delivery also include events at local and national theaters, museums, schools, universities, libraries, historical organizations, senior centers, family reunions, festivals, corporate and community events.

Lynette Barber
Lynnette Barber is a North Carolina native that grew up in Columbia, NC. She presently resides in Raleigh. Lynnette started acting at a young age but did not discover her gift of song until she was almost 30 years old. But since discovering her voice she has had many opportunities to perform across the United States and Internationally. She has made up some of that time by performing many genres of song: R & B, Jazz, Blues, Rock and Gospel. Besides singing with her band, she does dramatic renditions of Sojourner Truth, Mahalia Jackson, Harriet Tubman and more.

Michelle Lanier
Michelle Lanier is an AfroCarolina folklorist, oral historian, museum professional, filmmaker and educator with over two decades of commitment to her callings. Raised in both Columbia and Hilton Head, South Carolina, and having ancestral roots in the sandhills, coastal plain, and upper piedmont of North Carolina, Michelle’s ancestral geography guides much of her interdisciplinary work. As a seasoned public humanities professional, in 2018, Michelle was named as the first African American director of all of North Carolina’s 25 state-owned historic sites.

Mitch Capel
Mitch Capel’s journey as a historian, professional storyteller, comedian and emcee since 1985 has been phenomenal. Under the name of “Gran’daddy Junebug”, Mitch has memorized over 70% of the poet laureate Paul Laurence Dunbar’s work and calls his style of storytelling “sto’etry” because the majority of his stories are in rhyme. This award winning artist has been featured at The Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival, The Kennedy Center, The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN, The National Association of Black Storytellers Festival and the first Inauguration of President Barack Obama. He attended A&T State and Howard Universities studying speech and theater.