We celebrate this Emancipation Day and the anniversary of the date that the U.S. ordered slavery ended in Texas in 1865, two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.

On this Juneteenth 2020 and every day, we honor and celebrate our black and African American brothers and sisters and acknowledge the long, hard, specific and brutal road they have been on for centuries to rightfully become equal members of “one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”, where “all” really means “all”.

May we join everyone in this country and around the world to stamp out racism, sexism, and xenophobia and recognize the humanity in all human beings. And may art, music, and culture be healing forces among us to bring people closer together to truly listen, tell stories, empathize, and understand each other.

Lee Arts Foundation celebrates diversity and inclusion and strives to create common forums where everyone feels celebrated and welcome. A year ago this weekend, we were celebrating the Summer Solstice in person at the 2019 Rock the Nation Carnation Block Party. We’ll miss being together in person this year, but will find ways to celebrate our communities throughout the Summer and Fall.

Stay safe and healthy, keep making art and music, and keep “bending the arc of the moral universe toward justice”!
Your friends at LAF.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.