You are all personally invited to join the Juneteenth Block Party on Saturday, June 20 from 3:00 – 7:00 pm! It is hosted by the Coalition of Residents and Fellows of Color (C-ROC), Equipoise, Pitt Office of Institutional Engagement & Wellbeing, Pitt Office of Health Sciences Engagement & Enrichment, Pitt School of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Physician Inclusion Council at UPMC and Pitt (PICUP), and UPMC GME. You are more than welcome to bring your loved ones and friends to the festivities!

Juneteenth is a federal holiday that recognizes the freedom of formerly enslaved Black people. It was signed into law as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021 by former President Biden with the leadership of civil rights activists including Rep Kim Clyburn (D- South Carolina), the late Rep Sheila Jackson Lee (D- Texas), and Opa Lee. The commemoration traditionally takes place on June 19 to commemorate the day in 1865 when Major Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in the state of Texas to share the news of the Emancipation Proclamation, announcing the official end of the Civil War. Opal Lee is known as the "Grandmother of Juneteenth" after walking 2.5 miles each year to symbolize the two and a half years it took for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach Texas.