Local Juneteenth celebration to honor the Magnificent 7

The Juneteenth celebration here will honor the “Magnificent 7” who integrated Dublin High School, and will include a concert on Friday and a parade and more fun at Market on Madison on Saturday.

The fifth annual Taste of Juneteenth festival, presented by CultureSHOCK of Dublin, will kick things off at noon Saturday in downtown Dublin with a parade and followed by The Taste of Juneteenth at the Market on Madison. 

“I’m excited about the new venue and location,” said Sherrie Jackson with CultureSHOCK of Dublin. “We are hoping it will draw more to it because we are in more of a centralized location. Juneteenth is a day to celebrate and get together while trying to spread awareness and education.” 

The Magnificent 7 will serve as the grand marshals of the Juneteenth parade.

“It’s good to highlight them,” Jackson said. “Not a lot of people knew or was familiar with their story. We wanted to celebrate them as our grand marshals.”  

Dublin High School’s Magnificent 7 includes Ceola Whipple (Foreman), a senior and first African-American graduate of Dublin High School in 1966; Gwendolyn D. Johnson (Mack) and Sharon Tucker who were juniors and graduated from DHS in 1967; Betty McRae (Wells), Sonja Ricks (Mason) and Doris Kellam, who were sophomores and graduated from DHS in 1968 and Mattie M. McGirt (Holmes), who was a freshman who would later relocate to another school.

These seven students applied for admission to what was then the all-white DHS for the 1965-1966 school year.

“Their accomplishment can be used as a symbol of unity,” Jackson said. “It’s a blessing to be able to honor and celebrate them many, many years later.” 

On Friday, Derrick Chatman and friends will host a Juneteenth Talent Show competition and concert performance at 7 p.m. in the Dublin High School Auditorium.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $20 at the door. People can contact Derrick Chatman on Facebook only for advanced tickets.  

Chatman said the talent show and concert will be a special evening of family entertainment. The artist  line-up includes Jamar Langley, a finalist from the season 23 of “The Voice,” Raheem The Dream, Atlanta rap legend and founder and CEO of Tight 2 Def Records), DJ Skillz (Legendary Live DJ) and R&B artist Nick Branden.

“We are working together with the Juneteenth Culture Shock Group,” Chatman said. “We decided to expand the celebration where we can do something on Friday night and work with them. We are co-promoting each other.” 

Langley is looking forward to performing in Dublin. Langley, who is from Andrews, South Carolina, describes his music between blues, soul and a little hint of rock. 

“I want to bring a nice show and want to celebrate Juneteenth,” Langley said. “Being on The Voice was good to hear the feedback and hear the praises solidified a lot of things I already knew.” 

Juneteenth, which will be observed on Wednesday, is held in remembrance of June 19, 1865, when Union troops made it to Galveston, Texas, to announce the end of the American Civil War. 

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation and that all slaves were free. In 1865, the slaves in Galveston had no knowledge of the president’s actions and were still being held captive. The troops read a letter on June 19, 1865, letting the slaves know they had been liberated.

“They found out that the war had been over for a while,” Chatman said. “This is for all of us. Slavery was officially over and it gave us a whole new country. We still have differences and people don’t always agree on the same thing, but we’re a much better country than when we had someone as a slave.”

Langley likes to get the chance to be able to celebrate Juneteenth.

“It’s unique on how Juneteenth all came together,” he said. “I think it’s a beautiful moment for everyone to come together and appreciate the culture. It’s definitely worth celebrating.”