In June 2022, Fancy and Emmanuel Lanier-Duncan organized a grand opening of their art center and community creative space in south Minneapolis, the Legacy Building. As curators of a Black-led space that would serve artists in the area as both means of creating and sharing their work, the Lanier-Duncans decided their grand opening would take place on Juneteenth that year. 

To honor and celebrate Juneteenth, the United States’ second independence day, which marks the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation for all enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865, the Lanier-Duncans held a festival called Soul of the Southside alongside Legacy Building’s opening. After receiving positive feedback from the community, they decided to make the festival an annual event. Today, Soul of the Southside is among the biggest celebrations of the national holiday in the Twin Cities. 

Soul of the Southside, which takes place on Minnehaha Avenue and East Lake Street, invites artists who create in the Legacy Building to showcase their art during the festival. 

“We’re always reaching back to our community partners and people who are investing in the space and saying, ‘Hey, how would you like to pull up the festival with this really awesome thing you’re doing here,’” Fancy Lanier-Duncan said. 

“Let’s bring it to a mass community that pops out on Juneteenth every single year, and create an incredible ecosystem [between] the festival and the Legacy Building. It’s only right that the [wider] community gets access to that ecosystem, even if they didn’t know anything about the Legacy Building. They’re getting to see it play out at the Soul of the Southside.” 

Lanier-Duncan grew up just one block from where Soul of the Southside takes place today. She is the fourth generation of her family living in the Longfellow neighborhood. When she and her partner were coming up with the ideas for the Legacy Building and Soul of the Southside, it was important for her that they would be located in her neighborhood. 

“The community is very much rooted in who I am,” she said. “It is such a significant and special thing to be able to create something I wish I had access to [when I was younger]. I wish that there were platforms like Soul of the Southside that really tries to keep it as local as possible.”

Juneteenth celebrations were not a big part of Lanier-Duncan’s childhood. Unlike today, there were very few community events commemorating Juneteenth. 

“Juneteenth didn’t really find a place in my life until adulthood, when I was really understanding more of its significance, and how my creativity was also a way that I felt my most liberated,” she said. “So much of my creativity is rooted in my liberation, and I think that’s where I align so deeply with Juneteenth. Because it’s about liberation, it’s about freedom, and it’s about a people who had to be extremely creative, and through that creativity found their liberation.”

Here is more information on Soul of the Southside and other Juneteenth events in the Twin Cities: 

Soul of the Southside 

Soul of the Southside will take place on June 19 on East Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue from noon to 8 p.m. The street will be overtaken by music, art making and food trucks. The festival will have two performance stages with live music, storytelling and dance celebrating Black culture and community. Local businesses will offer their spaces for dance lessons, exhibitions of local art and even relaxation and mindfulness. 

North Side Juneteenth weekend celebrations

Spanning the whole weekend, the Northside Juneteenth is returning for another celebration of Black freedom. The festival will kick off with a free movie screening on Friday, following with a community barbecue and swim day on Sunday. (The Saturday family festival was cancelled.) 

Rondo Juneteenth Celebration

The Rondo Center for Diverse Expressions is holding its sixth annual Juneteenth celebration. Along with food, music and exhibits, the center will present the Rondo Achievement Awards to those that have meaningfully contributed or served the Rondo community. 

Celebrating Juneteenth with theater

The Minnesota Humanities Center and Sweet Potato Comfort Pie are hosting a production of “Kumbayah: The Juneteenth Story” at St. Catherine University’s O’Shaughnessy theater. The play was written by the founder of Sweet Potato Comfort Pie, Rose McGee, who first put it on more than 30 years ago. The two-act play follows stories of enslaved Africans in Texas and their emancipation and path to freedom. Tickets are free, but require registration. 

Prefer to watch a movie instead?

The Minnesota Humanities Center is collaborating with the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) to host the premiere of the documentary film “The Making of America,” directed by Minnesota-based Monique Linder, with a discussion and an art showcase following the screening. This film invites the audience to gain a deeper understanding of how the Enlightenment period created the basis for “racial slavery, territorial extraction and Indigenous dispossession in the United States.”

Celebrating Freedom Day at Bethune Park

The Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board is inviting residents to Bethune Park to celebrate Juneteenth with food, music and games. Musician Cameron Wright, who is originally from Minneapolis, will perform along with other local musicians. 

Juneteenth’s The Reckoning at the Capitol 

The Annika Foundation is partnering with Ramsey County for its fifth Juneteenth celebration on the State Capitol grounds. The event features food, music and games while also presenting families with resources on legal and civil rights. 

Celebrate Black queerness with the Black Burlesque Show

Juneteenth Jubilee is hosting its annual Black Burlesque Show, which will feature Black performers, burlesque dancers, drag kings and queens from across the country. This event is a celebration of Black and brown bodies and the vibrant BIPOC queer community in Minnesota. 

READ MORE

Meet the Umamies, Minneapolis’ newest Asian American pop band

Minnehaha Off-Leash Dog Park may close amid efforts to restore sacred Dakota land

Paint the town purple: Minneapolis honors Prince with concerts, block parties and a new museum