Juneteenth events set at medical center

Rae Blaylark, president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Minnesota, will speak on sickle cell disease at a June 20 webinar.

Rae Blaylark, president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Minnesota, will speak on sickle cell disease at a June 20 webinar.

UNMC is planning events to celebrate Juneteenth.

A federal holiday in the United States, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. and marks June 19, 1865, as the date slavery ended with the freeing of slaves in Galveston, Texas.

UNMC events include:

  • A Juneteenth Jubilee planned for Friday, June 16, from 11-2 p.m. at the Ruth and Bill Scott Student Plaza green space. There will be music, yard games, food trucks and more.
  • Justin Payne, a classically trained international vocalist, award-winning composer/playwright and an instructor of Black studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, will present “Lift Ev’ry Voice: A Celebration of African American Popular Music in the United States of America/Music & The Black Experience.” The June 19 presentation will be in the Sorrell Center, Room 2018, as well as online, from noon-1 p.m. RSVP here.
  • Sodexo will host a Juneteenth menu for Nebraska Café and Bellevue Café today, Wednesday (June 14) and June 19.
  • Rae Blaylark, president and CEO of the Sickle Cell Foundation of Minnesota, will speak on sickle cell disease at a June 20 webinar from 2-3 p.m. RSVP here. (World Sickle Cell Day is June 19.)