The Emancipation Proclamation freed enslaved people in Confederate states in 1863, yet it took another two and a half years for enslaved Texans to learn of their freedom.
Juneteenth, a federal holiday, commemorates June 19, 1865, the day that U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger and more than 2,000 Union soldiers posted notices in Galveston, Texas, announcing the end of slavery. The troops enforced the law, ensuring an orderly transition.
Celebrating Juneteenth is important, but it’s also a “day of reckoning,” says Pastor Floyd Thompkins of Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City.
“The folks in Texas were trying to keep enslaved people from finding out,” Thompkins says. “That wasn’t a few folks that got together. That was the whole system trying to keep them enslaved.”
Drawing a line from 1865 to the present, he points out that America still struggles for declared freedoms. Thompkins sees the evidence in changing immigration policies and the erosion of civil rights and women’s rights.
“Skepticism about the American government is how we keep it healthy and strong and doing the right thing,” Thompkins explains. “Even though legislation is enacted, unless we as a people live into that with our systems and with our courage, things do not change. The law that freed human beings was not real until people enforced it.”
While the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced in Texas 161 years ago, Juneteenth only became a federal holiday in 2021. Its arrival as a national holiday has not shielded it from political pressure. The Trump administration removed both Juneteenth and Martin Luther King Day as free entry days in national parks, part of broader federal rollbacks of diversity and inclusion efforts that included directing federal agencies to terminate DEI practices and policies across the government workforce.
Chaplain Chitoka Webb, who founded the first church-hosted Juneteenth celebration in Marin County, clearly frames a crucial lesson from that long-ago day in Texas.
“What Juneteenth teaches us is you have to decide what side you are going to be on,” she says. “You cannot straddle the fence. Either you’re going to tell the truth or you’re not going to tell the truth.”
Despite the current political climate, Thompkins and Webb agree that Juneteenth belongs to every American. Across Marin this year, there are plenty of places to claim it.
Where to Celebrate
Marin City
On Juneteenth, the California Film Institute brings a community screening of two documentaries to Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church. Marin City Then & Now (1992), the original documentary by filmmaker and community activist Oshalla D. Marcus, will be shown with its newly completed companion, Marin City: Then, Now & Next (2026).
A live Q&A with artists and community members featured in the films follows the screenings.
The Marin City Community Exhibit, consisting of archival photographs, videos and personal materials gathered from Marin City residents, will be presented for the first time.
6:30pm, Friday, June 19, Saint Andrew Presbyterian Church, Marin City. Free admission. Post-screening reception to follow. For more information, visit cafilmedu.org/marin-city.
Also in Marin City
Marin City, a historically Black community, celebrates Juneteenth with a full day of neighborhood spirit, food and music organized by the Marin City Community Services District (MCCSD).
“Come on down,” says MCCSD’s Florence Williams. “People of all races, colors and creeds are welcome.”
The festivities open with a prayer breakfast, featuring a Southern-style spread of chicken and waffles, gourmet grits with shrimp and biscuits. Walter Turner, a Marin City native and longtime College of Marin educator, delivers the morning address. Gospel group Voices of Love provides the music.
A family event in the afternoon features entertainment, food and a Kids’ Zone. Festival goers will enjoy a DJ spinning tunes, the Heart String Bridges Band, singers Carol “Kelly” Thomas and Carl Dedrick, and original Juneteenth poetry from Ronnie Striplin. Menu items from food vendors include fried fish, sweet potato pie and oxtails.
An awards ceremony honors Terrie Green for her decades of community leadership. Marin City activist and artist Oshalla D. Marcus will be crowned Ms. Juneteenth.
Prayer breakfast, 10am–12pm, Saturday, June 20, at the Marguerita C. Johnson Senior Center, 640 Drake Ave., Marin City. No charge. Donations welcome. RSVP at 415.332.1441 or of****@**********sd.com.
Community Celebration, 12:30–5pm, Rocky Graham Park, 850 Drake Ave., Marin City.
Mill Valley
This year, Mill Valley holds its fifth annual Juneteenth Freedom Festival, a milestone that Tammy Herndon, the city’s community and culture liaison, says reflects a genuine civic commitment. The push came from residents.
“The people of color who live here really wanted their own Juneteenth,” Herndon notes.
The free, family-friendly jubilee showcases entertainment by local talent. DJ Feeve keeps the beat moving. African drummer Onye returns after a crowd-pleasing appearance last year, and poet Amber Allen-Peirson will read from her collection, The Unrooted Bloom, and debut original work created for the occasion. Performing Stars, a youth arts organization, brings four acts to the program.
The Mill Valley Library has produced an interactive experience for festival-goers to learn about the history of Juneteenth and the city. Archival material drawn from the Mill Valley Historical Society will be on display.
Food vendors include Marin businesses Dee’s Organics and Sweet Tey’s Pastries. Zambezi Biltong, started by a Mill Valley resident, prepares marinated beef snacks using an authentic South African recipe.
11am-3pm, Saturday, June 13, at the Mill Valley Downtown Plaza. More information at cityofmillvalley.gov/953/Freedom-Festival.
San Rafael
The Black Excellence Festival at Christ Presbyterian Church in Terra Linda, founded by Chaplain Chitoka Webb, is now in its third year.
The celebration’s 2026 Black Excellence Awards recognizes local Black women working to advance justice and historic Black women who moved the world forward. Awardees include Dr. Cindy Acker, San Anselmo Vice Mayor Chantel Walker, Antonette Bullock of the San Rafael Police Department and Jasmine Sanderfer, the first Black CEO of the Marin Association of Realtors.
This year’s event focuses on gender justice, with a keynote address from Bishop Yvette Flunder of City of Refuge, a church that began with mostly gay and lesbian congregants.
More than 15 African and African-diaspora vendors will be on hand, none paying a vendor fee—Webb’s way of honoring the uncompensated labor of the enslaved, who worked without pay or freedom for more than two years after emancipation was declared.
10am-3pm, Saturday, June 20, at Christ Presbyterian Church, 620 Del Ganado Rd., San Rafael. Free admission. Donations to support the City of Refuge are welcome. For more information, visit cpcinterralinda.org/events.
More in Marin
Novato
The Downtown Novato Farmers Market hosts a free Juneteenth event with André Thierry, a Grammy-nominated accordionist whose soul music blends zydeco, funk and R&B.
6-8pm, Tuesday, June 16, at 901 Sherman Ave., Novato. For more info, visit bit.ly/4oeaWcY
Tiburon
Tiburon’s free gathering showcases a mix of live jazz and hip-hop, poetry readings and guest speakers. The program also includes a history of the Buffalo Soldiers, the segregated African American regiments established in 1866, one year after Granger’s troops enforced emancipation in Texas.
3-7pm, Sunday, June 21, on Main Street, Tiburon. For more information, visit townoftiburon.gov.
