Published June 09. 2021 5:29PM | Updated June 09. 2021 6:07PM
New London Connecticut Landmarks’ Hempsted Houses is partnering with several organizations and welcoming visitors this weekend for New London’s 7th annual Juneteenth Celebration.
The free event, happening Friday and Saturday, will highlight the African American history of the site and surrounding neighborhood. Visitors are encouraged to wear masks and socially distance. Donations are welcome.
Juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to proclaim the last of the slaves had been freed when President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
The festivities begin at 6 p.m. Friday with a community campfire discussion led by the founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, Joseph McGill. He will speak about how he locates and preserves slave dwellings.
Remember Matthew, said the marquee at the Garde Arts Center in the days after Matthew Chew, a pizza cook and artist, was fatally stabbed about a block away from the theatre as he walked home from work on Oct. 29, 2010.
Six teens and young men of color, one of whom later told police the group was bored, had randomly attacked Chew, a 25-year-old white man, as he walked home from work on Huntington Street.
The incident challenged the community and The Day to do better.
We both rose to the challenge, but it s a work in progress.
On Thursday, 550 people attended the premiere of Those People at The Garde. The documentary, produced by Peter Huoppi of The Day and Curtis Goodwin, chronicles the New London Talent Show, which was created by Goodwin and others to provide a positive outlet for young people in the aftermath of Chew s death.