5/15/2019, 7:45 a.m.
Vancouver NAACP is set to celebrate Juneteenth at Clark College on June 22.
A Juneteenth t-shirt design contest for high school youth, a diversity job fair, forums on racial justice, education and law enforcement, and live entertainment with food vending are some of the highlights coming to the this year’s Juneteeth celebration in Vancouver, sponsored by the Vancouver NAACP.
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the official ending of slavery in the United States and focuses on promoting and cultivating knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture.
The Vancouver celebration will be held on Saturday, June 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Clark College. The job fair will run from 10 a.m. to noon in Hanna Hall, the same location for a pop up art gallery, writers forum and most of the Juneteenth events. The YWCA Clark County Val Joshua Racial Justice and Youth Social Justice Awards will take place on the same day between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. in Foster Hall.
The Juneteenth theme this year is “Together We Rise” to address the idea that together we rise above the fray of hatred, despair, and discord and we join unified to work towards cooperative economics and purpose for our race, community and nation.
There is a May 17 deadline to sign up for the t-shirt design contest. Email info.uccp@gmail.com for more information. For job fair, sponsor and vendor applications, email naacpvancouver@gmail.com.