Juneteenth Celebrations Across Santa Barbara County

For Immediate Release: June 5, 2022

Contact: juneteenthsbc@gmail.com 

JUNETEENTH EVENTS ACROSS SANTA BARBARA COUNTY

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CA - Santa Barbara County will celebrate Juneteenth from Friday, June 16, through Friday, June 23. Check out and join the celebrations happening throughout our county!

JUNETEENTH SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, “HARLEM NIGHTS RENAISSANCE," Friday, June 16, 7 pm - 10 pm - Craft House at Corque Ballroom, 420 Alisal Road, Solvang 

The 4th annual Juneteenth Santa Ynez Valley celebration in Solvang returns this year with a change in format and a swanky new angle. While Juneteenth celebrations of Solvang’s past have focused on a casual, family-friendly theme, the festivities are all grown up this year.

The 2023 Juneteenth event takes place on Friday, June 16th, from 7:00 – 10:00 pm in the ballroom of Craft House at Corque in Solvang, with the theme “Harlem Nights Renaissance”. This event is open to the community, and the evening promises to deliver a sophisticated fête with speakeasy vibes, comedy stand-up, spoken word poetry, live music, a 360 photo booth, and a southern-themed dinner buffet featuring fried green tomatoes, crab cakes, fondue, shrimp and grits, and Café DuMonde beignets with coffee.

Perhaps the most memorable part of the evening will be the live auction art pieces provided by several esteemed artists, including Kahinde Wiley, the artist for Barack Obama’s official portrait in the Smithsonian; pieces approved by the estate of the famed artist Jean-Michel Basquiat; and a mixed-media sculpture by Faith Ringgold, born in 1930 in Harlem, New York and Professor of Emeritus of Art at UC San Diego.

Guests are widely encouraged to come in their very best roaring 20s-themed attire for a sophisticated, semi-formal evening of fun and cultural immersion, and stay on for the after-party with Lex the DJ that promises to deliver cultural beats and dancing late into the night.

More event information and ticket sales can be found at https://www.juneteenthsyv.com/, with early bird general admission at $99 per person, which includes dinner. Ticket prices go up after June 8th and ticket sales will close on June 14th. Guests are encouraged to buy tickets early and  enjoy an unforgettable evening that celebrates Black Heritage and those who are today shaping the history of tomorrow.

SPONSORS:  The Fund for Santa Barbara, Visit SYV, Endowment for Youth Community, Madi’s Treasure Box Inc., High on the Hog Catering, Marriott Santa Ynez Valley, SYV Pride, County of Santa Barbara, Juneteenth Santa Barbara, Pacific Pride Foundation, Pico Los Alamos, Lumen Wines, and Moke Experience in Solvang.

JUNETEENTH LOMPOC, Saturday, June 17, 11 am - 8 pm - Oldtown Lompoc, South H Street, Lompoc

Experience the jubilant spirit of African-American freedom as we come together to celebrate this special day of Juneteenth. Join us on Saturday, June 17, from 11 am - 5 pm in Oldtown Lompoc for an unforgettable celebration. C4 Lompoc and Santa Maria-Lompoc NAACP co-host the event. The event will have a health zone including Covid-19 vaccines and other community resources.

The event will include live entertainment, music & dance, food & drinks, and fun and games! Learn more: https://www.c4lompoc.org/2023juneteenthlompoc 

We thank our sponsors: The Fund for Santa Barbara, County of Santa Barbara, City of Lompoc, County of Santa Barbara Commission for Women, Salon PCH Street Wine Lounge, and United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County

JUNETEENTH SANTA BARBARA ‘NOURISHING THE PEOPLE’ FREE BLOCK PARTY, Sunday, June 18, 12 pm - 5 pm - Funk Zone, 200 Block of Grey Ave., Santa Barbara

Juneteenth Santa Barbara welcomes the community to the sixth year of a public celebration of Juneteenth in Santa Barbara! The free block party celebration will be on Sunday, June 18, 2023, from 12 pm to 5 pm, in historically Black Santa Barbara, also known as the Funk Zone, on the 200 block of Gray Avenue in Santa Barbara. 

The celebration includes local live performances, the Black/African American Artisan Market return, kid's activities with Princess Tiana from Princess & the Frog, and so much more! 

Coming to the stage for this event is local Black talent Warren B Ritter III & Vivian Storm as co-hosts, Talitha Gabrielle, The Knew Vibe, DJ Tempest, Pastor David Moore and Sojourner Kincaid Rolle. The event brings back the Black Artisan Market with vendors: Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, Healing Justice Santa Barbara, Omega Real Estate & Investments, Gateway Educational Services, NAACP - Santa Barbara, LPM Brittle, To Live a Colorful Life, Studio Iman, Baby Sign Sessions, Warrior Mother Essential Oils and Blends, Uncle Roy’s Seasoning, Big Mama’s Preserve, SBCC Umoja, Golden1 Credit Union, Pacific Pride Foundation, and Riah Safari

Special thanks to the individual donors, families, artists, and so many who contributed to help make this day possible. Thank you to our Platinum Community Partners, the City of Santa Barbara and US Bank. Additional gratitude to our Gold Sponsors, the City of Goleta, the County of Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara Foundation. We also thank our Silver Community Partners, Pacifica Graduate Alumni Association, SBCC Foundation, Spark Creative Events, Endowment for Youth Community, and Golden 1 Credit Union.  Along with gratitude for the Bronze Community Partners, American Riviera Bank, The Fund for Santa Barbara, Montecito Bank & Trust, Oniracom, Ventura Rentals Party & Events, Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ), Pride & Joy Santa Barbara, and Unitarian Society of Santa Barbara. Thanks to our community partners,  UCSB Office of Black Student Development, Pacific Pride Foundation, Madi’s Treasure Box, Clevr Blends, AG Protection, Chaucer’s Bookstore, and La Leiff Winery

PURE HONEY Juneteenth After Party by Family Matters Santa Barbara - Sunday, June 18, doors start at 5 pm at Wildcat 

SB Family Matters presents: “PURE HONEY,” a Juneteenth Afterparty with drag performances by Vivian Storm, André Mayhem, and more. This will include live music by Talitha Gabrielle, beats by Matt Moore, and hosted by Charles. Join us at 5 pm on Sunday, June 18, at Wildcat Lounge, 15 W Ortega St., Santa Barbara, CA. Contact Terra Cobian at terracobian@gmail.com for any questions. 

Week of Juneteenth in Santa Barbara and online presented by Pacifica Graduate Institute, Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association, and Fielding Graduate University & Fielding Alumni Association, & SBCC - June 20-23, 2023 

Understanding our history is critical to the development of our understanding of ourselves. Juneteenth, which celebrates the emancipation of enslaved peoples in the United States, is a time for remembrance and reflection. Pacifica Graduate Institute and Fielding Graduate University are pleased to partner with organizations in the community to commemorate Juneteenth, gather as a community, and learn further about the Black history in Santa Barbara and beyond.

As part of the Juneteenth educational activities, For the Love of Black People: A Historical Exhibit curated by Healing Justice Santa Barbara will be open to the public June 21-23, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.

June 20 | 5:00-7:30 p.m.

For the Love of Black People: Historical Exhibit - Opening Reception

Freedom: An Evening of Jazz & Poetry on Lambert

The exhibition is open to the public at 6.30 p.m. 

Pacifica Graduate Institute | South Hall | 249 Lambert Road, Carpinteria, CA 93013

June 21 | 5:00-6:30 p.m.

Juneteenth: Remembrance and Reflection – Panel Discussion

In Person: Pacifica Graduate Institute | South Hall | 249 Lambert Road, Carpinteria, CA 93013

Speakers: Tracy Fisher, Thyonne Gordon, Ivory Toldson & Wendi Williams 

Moderator: Allison Davis-White Eyes

Please R.S.V.P. your attendance by calling 805.898.2926 or giving@fielding.edu.  Reserve your space today – seating is limited. Alternatively, contact Dianne Travis-Teague at DTravis-Teague@pacifica.edu.  

To see the event online, register here: https://pgiaa.org/events/juneteenth/juneteenth-remembrance-and-reflection-a-panel-discussion-june-21/ 

June 22 | 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Santa Barbara City College: The Umoja Mural Film & Discussion

Speakers: Roxanne Byrne & Akil Asim Hill

Pacifica Graduate Institute | South Hall | 249 Lambert Road, Carpinteria, CA 93013

RSVP: https://alumni.pgiaa.org/events 

Questions? Contact Dianne Travis-Teague at DTravis-Teague@pacifica.edu 

June 23 | 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Youth Day – Black People Historical Exhibit

Pacifica Graduate Institute | South Hall | 249 Lambert Road, Carpinteria, CA 93013

Questions? Contact Dianne Travis-Teague at DTravis-Teague@pacifica.edu

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About Madi’s Tresure Box

“I want to be a World Changer” - Madi. 

Madi is the co-founder of Madi’s Treasure Box. Through sales of her World Changer products, she realizes a mission to provide multicultural tools promoting literacy & inclusion to schools & libraries across America. Madi’s goal is to ensure that all children are able to see themselves represented. Learn more about Madi and her mission at maditrasurebox.com

About C4Lompoc

C4 Lompoc - Collective Cultures Creating Change is a coalition that identifies resources required to connect individuals with organizations, thereby ensuring that all members have equal opportunities to thrive as productive members of society.

C4 strives to be a resource for Lompoc organizations and individuals to come together to create and sustain a community free of violence that respects the value of all its members regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or economic status.

We will always seek peaceful solutions to long-term change that promotes a motto of respect, love, kindness, second chances, and faith in the people of Lompoc, Vandenberg Village, Missions Hills, and the Vandenberg Space Force Base — intentionally opposing injustices that promote racism, discrimination, oppression, hatred, violence, crime, and community division.

About the National Association For the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Santa Maria- Lompoc

The National Association For the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Santa Maria-Lompoc, was founded in 1909 to address existing racial and ethnic disparities and is the nation's largest and oldest civil rights organization.  Its mission is to secure the social, political, educational, and economic equality of rights of all people by removing barriers such as race-based discrimination and ensuring the health and well-being of all persons.  Learn more at santamarialompocnaacp.org

About Juneteenth Santa Barbara 

Juneteenth Santa Barbara is an annual event where community members unite to celebrate the liberation of enslaved African Americans'  in the United States. Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed, enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas were informed of their freedom and immediately danced in the streets. Today we honor our ancestors and celebrate our freedom, showcasing Black joy and culture in Santa Barbara, California. Our community event also honors local Black artists, performers, and organizations and provides free food, dancing, and singing. To learn more, please go to juneteenthsb.org

About Family Matters Santa Barbara

Family Matters Santa Barbara is a queer collective based in Santa Barbara (Chumash land) focused on highlighting artists and producing events by and for queer folks.

About Pacifica Graduate Institute

Pacifica Graduate Institute is an accredited graduate school offering masters and doctoral degree programs in the traditions of depth psychology. Our educational environment nourishes respect for cultural diversity and individual differences, and our students have access to an impressive array of educational resources on Pacifica’s two campuses, both of which are located a few miles south of Santa Barbara, California. https://www.pacifica.edu

About Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association

The Pacifica Graduate Institute Alumni Association (the “Association” or “PGIAA”) formed on 17 April 2013 as a California 501(c) Nonprofit Corporation for the purposes of developing an operational and charitable membership association that supports both the alumni (“Alumni” or “alums”) of Pacifica Graduate Institute (the “Institute” or “PGI”) and the wider community in pursuit of developing their intellectual, spiritual, altruistic, and professional capabilities.

About Fielding Graduate University

Fielding Graduate University provides interdisciplinary programs for a community of scholar-practitioners within a distributed learning model grounded in student-driven inquiry and leading to enhanced knowledge. It is an accredited independent school of higher-learning and has offered degree programs to diverse adults since 1974. Fielding’s offices are located in Santa Barbara, California, and Washington, D.C. https://www.fielding.edu


About For the Love of Black People: Historical Exhibit

We, Healing Justice Santa Barbara, prepared the following visual Black history timeline on the traditional, ancestral, and unseeded territory of the Chumash on which we are organizing today.

As a Black-led and centered group, we deeply understand the ways that capitalism has succeeded by exploiting the labor of Black bodies; so too have these harmful systems benefited from obscuring the existence of Indigenous people because by doing so those aligned with colonialism can feel less conflicted about laying claim to land and resources which are not Theirs.

 

Our words and actions matter. It is not enough to point to public statements that repeat the values of diversity and inclusion. Instead, we must interrogate and actively respond to our own complicity in the oppression of others. Our communities are deserving of more, and so as a collective of stolen people organizing on stolen land, we fully support our Chumash siblings in pushing for Indigenous reparations and sovereignty.

 

Part of our work, in this moment, is telling the full truth of the Black experience and disrupting the lies of erasure and white supremacy. When we tell the truth, stories of Black and Indigenous solidarity, Black and Latinx partnerships and Black joy making emerge. We commit ourselves to continuing the tradition of Black kin-keepers — notably Sojourner Kincaid Rolle and Cedric Robinson — because we know that we must collect and retell our own histories to counter false narratives of white-centered history which obscure Black efforts to create family, joy, and Community.

We are not “professional” historians or archivists. We are people who love our kin and who must continue to tell their stories. We are activist mothers who find healing in telling the truth about our ancestors. This is our Kinship Story.

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