RICHMOND, Va. — The Juneteenth Sounds of Freedom concert returned to Virginia Union University Saturday.
The free event was held at the Hezekiah Walker Center For Gospel Music.
Performers included Walker, who said one of this year's theme was celebrating seniors.
Accordingly, JenCare held a health fair for seniors at the event.
Juneteenth commemorates when Union soldiers brought the news of freedom to enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas, in 1865, two months after the Confederacy had surrendered in the Civil War and about 2 1/2 years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves in Southern states.
Last year, Congress and President Joe Biden moved swiftly to make Juneteenth a national holiday. It was the first time the federal government had designated a new national holiday since approving Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.
