Juneteenth Flag Raising Ceremony Held In Norristown

NORRISTOWN, PA — More than 100 attendees gathered in Norristown on Monday for a special flag raising ceremony in celebration of Juneteenth, which is this Thursday, June 19.

The annual event included a range of speakers from the community and local government, live music, poetry, and the announcement of the student winners of the 2025 Art and Poetry of Freedom Contest.

“I know that every time someone like me has the opportunity to be the first to do something, it is because the doors were shut in the face of previous generations for far too long," Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder told the gathered crowd. "It is our duty to hold that door open for others. That's why we are intentional about preserving the values that we hold dear in Mongomery County."

Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans that the Civil War was over and slavery had been abolished.

While symbolically important, this did not end slavery in the United States. That did not occur until the passage of the 13th Amendment several months later, that Dec. 1865.

Montgomery County made Juneteenth an official holiday in 2020, and it became a federal holiday in 2021.

Following the flag raising, the Monday event featured a special reading of the Emancipation Proclamation from county employees and Juneteenth Committee members Terrence Barnes and Charles Clark.

Rev. Marshal Mitchell from Salem Baptist Church spoke, and Judge Page of theMontgomery County Court of Common Pleas performed a song, and Mydera Robinson, the executive director of Theatre Horizon, performed spoken word poetry.

“Juneteenth is ultimately a celebration of freedom," Commissioner Thomas DiBello added. "Juneteenth is a reminder that freedom for all is a work in progress. Ensuring our nation lives up to its founding principles is a work in progress. It isn’t something that happens just because we say it."

The student Art and Poetry of Freedom contest announced winners during the event:

• Michael Applewhite, 1st Grade, Jarrettown Elementary School  

• Mirabella Miles, 2nd Grade, Plymouth Elementary School   

• Melody Lian, 4th Grade, Arrowhead Elementary School   

• Abram Saavedra, 5th Grade, Elkins Park Intermediate School   

• Lillian Santacroce, 6th Grade, Middle School West   

• Genner Lima, 8th Grade, Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy   

• Danbi Kim, 9th Grade, Boyertown Area Senior High   

• Honorary Contestant, 10th Grade, Montgomery County Youth Center 

• Giana Venezia, 12th Grade, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School