June 7, 2023 – The African American Cultural & Genealogical Society of IL, Inc. Museum (partnering with Richland Community College) will present its 30th Anniversary and its 29th Annual Juneteenth National Freedom Day Fundraiser.
On Friday, June 16th, 2023, AACGS will host guest speaker, Mr. John Ashworth. at a banquet at Richland Community College in the Shilling Salon from 6:30pm-9pm. Ashworth is the Executive Director of the Lynching Sites Project of Memphis, Tennessee. The banquet will also hold a special recognition of Dr. Sundiata Keita Cha-Jua, Ph.D., Associate Professor of History & African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Cha-Jua will be recognized for his research into Samuel J Bush, a black man who was forcibly taken from the Macon County Jail and lynched in Decatur in 1893.
The Juneteenth celebration will continue on Saturday, June 17 with the Emancipation Parade in downtown Decatur beginning at noon. Following the parade, there will be activities and vendors in Central Park until 6pm.
