SWOCC release – Coos Bay, OR – In celebration of Juneteenth, Southwestern Oregon Community College invites the public to a free presentation “Juneteenth: Honoring the Black Freedom Struggle” by Taylor Stewart, founder of the Oregon Remembrance Project. The presentation will be held at Southwestern’s Coos Campus (1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay) at 2:00 pm on June 18, 2024, in Umpqua Hall, Room 184. This is a free event and everyone is welcome. Juneteenth, officially Juneteenth National Independence Day, is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the end of slavery. For the past four years, Taylor Stewart has been at the forefront of Juneteenth celebrations across the state of Oregon, lending his expertise and passion to the cause. Stewart’s first time working on a Juneteenth celebration was in 2021 in Coos Bay. Stewart founded the Oregon Remembrance Project in 2018 to memorialize Alonzo Tucker, Oregon’s most widely documented African American victim of lynching, which occurred in Coos Bay in 1902. For the presentation, Stewart will share his experience in helping to organize Juneteenth events across the state, what excites him most about these events, and how communities can carry the spirit of Juneteenth forward beyond its annual observance. Light refreshments traditional to Juneteenth celebrations will be provided free of charge. For more information contact Forrest Akers, Director of International Recruitment and Academic Partnerships, at 541-888-7185, forrest.akers@socc.edu.
