Overture Lights Up For Juneteenth

This week, Overture Center lights up in red, black and green in honor of Juneteenth National Independence Day. The building will be lit at dusk on Wednesday, June 19 through the early morning hours.

A monumental historic moment took place on June 17, 2021. President Joseph Biden signed a Congressional Bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday, the first new federal holiday in nearly four decades—and 156 years after the last enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, were told they were free, back in 1865.

There for the historic signing was 94-year-old Ms. Opal Lee, known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” who advocated for two decades to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black woman elected as Vice President of the United States, was also in attendance and spoke during the signing. It was a historic moment and an occasion for celebration as the nation turned its attention to the end of slavery and the beginning of our country's journey toward true freedom for everyone.

Since that time, we annually light Overture Center in red, black and green, the colors of the Pan-African flag, which was created in 1920 to represent people of the African Diaspora and symbolize Black liberation in the United States. We recognize and celebrate Juneteenth Day and its significance as the official end of slavery in this country.