Celebrate Juneteenth with us!

Join us to celebrate Juneteenth with Friends at Durham Friends Meeting on Friday, June 19. We are given the opportunity to celebrate the end of enslavement in this country!  We still have a long way to go to manifest the rest of the dream but let’s pause in this time of chaos, anger, and grief to celebrate Juneteenth!

 

Shirley Thoms and Jessica Barnhill have planned a beautiful day of honoring the meaning of this day and the Racial Justice Vision and Practice committee is thrilled to support their leanings. There will be activities throughout the day from 9 am - 9 pm.

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Come for an hour! Come for the morning, afternoon or evening! Come for the entire day! Don’t miss this amazing opportunity for celebration! Here are some highlights:

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Juneteenth Songs and Singing 10- 11:00 AM 

Arvetra Domonic Jones is not just an artist—he is a cultivator of purpose. Raised in Aberdeen, North Carolina, his foundation was formed in the church, where he played drums and discovered the power of music to move hearts and shift atmospheres. That early connection to rhythm and worship shaped both his sound and his message. By twelve, he was writing lyrics, unknowingly preparing for a calling rooted in inspiration and impact. As a former athlete and educator, Arvetra carries discipline, resilience, and leadership into every creative space. His music reflects lived experience—overcoming adversity, strengthening faith, and embracing growth. Each song is intentional, designed to uplift and challenge listeners to think deeper about who they are becoming.  In 2019, he founded Writer’s Block Music Academy, a program equipping youth to create, protect, and distribute their own music while prioritizing mental wellness and confidence.   For Arvetra, words are seeds. Thoughts shape identity, and speech plants harvest. It’s empowerment in motion.

 

Juneteenth Shekere Instrument 11-12:00 PM (https://organology.net/instrument/shekere/)

Beverly Botsford is a cross-cultural percussionist and educator, blending music, movement, and spoken word in solo and ensemble presentations.  Embracing drumming traditions and inspirations of Africa, Cuba, South America and her native North Carolina, she weaves colorful rhythmic tapestries with her infinite array of collected and homemade instruments. Beverly celebrates more than 30 years of full-time, professional experience, performing and teaching in an infinite variety of situations. Highlights include 13 years of touring with Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble as well as more than a decade on the faculty of the American Dance Festival. Over the years, she has shared her passion for rhythm and culture in hundreds of school and community residencies, workshops and performances, in solo and ensemble presentations. Since 1998, Beverly has toured internationally with Grammy nominated jazz vocalist, Nnenna Freelon in such venues as the Kennedy Center, the Hollywood Bowl, and the Umbria Jazz Festival. Television credits include appearances on CBS “Good Morning,” BET Jazz, UNC-TV’s “Our State” and WRAL’s award winning, “Smart Start Kids.”  Recent highlights include work with the Urban Bush Women Dance Company as well as performances with Nnenna Freelon in London, Greece, Brazil, Angola and in Hawaii for President Obama and 200 world heads of state.

Beverly offers a variety of solo and ensemble performances as well as workshops and residencies. She tailors presentations to the needs of the presenter, the audience and in educational settings, to the curriculum. She is on the touring and education roster for the NC Arts Council and is a member of Alternate ROOTS, www.alternateroots.org, intersecting arts and activism to build a better world.

 

Juneteenth Movement 1:30- 3:00 PM

Dalila of Intuitive Movement, is an experienced visual and performing artist, offers an experience that invites community to reconnect the body, mind and spirit, to the intuitive wisdom of dances from the African diaspora. The ritual of dance is enhanced by sound vibrations that inspire healing, liberation and power. 

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See attachment for a complete offering for the day.

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