Organizers hope to welcome folks from beyond Newtown at the festivities.
By Johannes Werner
Original Air Date: June 13, 2025
Host: This Thursday, June 19, is Juneteenth. It’s been a federal holiday since 2021, but the organizers of the celebrations in Sarasota moved the party to this weekend. To be precise: Saturday. We have the details.
Johannes Werner: Although the Emancipation Proclamation became effective on January 1, 1863, Black Americans deep in Confederate territory did not benefit until more than two years later. To the 250,000 slaves in Texas, freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay.
That’s what the Juneteenth celebration is about. In Sarasota, it will come five days early, on Saturday, June 14.
For Gwendalyn Fleetwood, this is the fifth year of being in charge of the celebrations in Newtown, the majority African American neighborhood in Sarasota.
The Newtown Juneteenth celebrations feature speakers and a DJ. They are family friendly, and they run from 1-7 pm.
Gwendalyn Fleetwood: We’re bringing the community together. There’s going to be vendors, too—a lot of local vendors from Sarasota, food, and engagement and entertainment throughout the community. The ups is just, mainly, a lot of people don’t get to see each other. This is one of the times where a lot of people come together and get to see each other—classmates.
Juneteenth revelers can visit the Leonard Reid House. The cultural center, on the corner of MLK and Orange, offers an exhibit by photographer Michael Kinsey.
JW: You will find most of the action along Martin Luther King Way, the commercial hub of Newtown, between Pershing and Osprey Avenue. Fleetwood expects 500 to 1,000 revelers. Most of them will be from the neighborhood, but she says she would love to see people from all over Sarasota flock to the party.
GF: A lot of people inside the city of Sarasota, outside of Newtown, don’t really know about it, or they don’t really come and participate, but I was hoping one year that we get more of the outskirts of the community to come in and celebrate Juneteenth as well.
Juneteenth is not only African American history. We know that Juneteenth is also American history. Some people look at it and they think it’s only within our culture, but it’s actually for everyone.
Just encourage everyone to come out and enjoy the local community, local vendors, and just have a good time.
JW: For WSLR News, this is Johannes Werner
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