CORPORATE AND INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS

We are honored to continue the legacy work of our late father, ‘The Father of Juneteenth’, and former State Representative (D-TX) Al Edwards. Since founding the nonprofit advocacy organization Juneteenth USA in 1985 with the sole purpose to raise awareness of the Juneteenth holiday and encourage state legislatures around the US to take up the law, our father saw the fruition of his work as 30 states passed Juneteenth as a state holiday during his lifetime.  As a politician, he understood that the US Congress would not take up the bill unless it had been taken up by the states first.

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Over 35 years before his passing in 2020, Juneteenth USA hosted annual free events for the public to raise awareness and celebrate the holiday including a Juneteenth Annual Gospel Festival at the acclaimed Jones Hall in downtown Houston with nationally and locally renowned musicians and performers, a Juneteenth Family Festival at the largest convention center in Houston (George R. Brown Convention Center),  a Juneteenth Annual Tennis Tournament at Homer Ford Tennis Center at MacGregor Park,  an Annual Al Edwards Juneteenth Galveston Memorial and an Annual Emancipation Proclamation Reading in partnership with the City of Galveston at the Historic Ashton Villa, the ‘Birthplace of Juneteenth’  157 years ago.  For 3 decades, Juneteenth USA executed over 100 annual recurring Juneteenth celebrations. 

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The organization was silent for a few years as our father’s health declined and his untimely passing in 2020, a year before the state holiday became a federal holiday.  Now, with renewed energy and the next generation at the helm, we restored and restructured the organization and are ready to help the nation celebrate Juneteenth as Texas has since 1979 when our father sponsored the legislation making Juneteenth a state holiday.  We grew up volunteering at his Juneteenth events and celebrating this holiday and are ready to share with the rest of the country our traditions and best practices for this holiday. 

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This new iteration of Juneteenth USA seeks to not only fund events but also arts, documentaries, research, and educational programming that can advance awareness of the holiday and the culture that began to take root post-slavery.  We also intend to fund scholarships, educational and mentoring programs throughout the year that uplift the community across the country. Our first art project, in partnership with muralist Reggie Adams and Absolute Equality Inc., marked the day Juneteenth became a federal holiday with the unveiling of a 5,000-square-foot public art mural that overlooks the site where General Granger issued General Order No. 3.  The mural challenges viewers to reconsider the role of monuments and memorials in telling pivotal moments in American history.  Our second project will be taking initial steps to study activating the Juneteenth Theater on Old Spanish Trail in Houston, Texas.  Our third project will be our Juneteenth USA HBCU Scholars Program. 

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JUSA is focused on funding projects that fall under our theme of Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans. This includes projects that bring awareness to the Juneteenth Holiday that are in the following areas:

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1. Art and Art Festivals

2. Entertainment (Concerts, Musicals, Theater, multimedia presentations)

3. Juneteenth Interactive Experiences (Space activations in communities around the US for the holiday)  

4. History - (Books, documentaries and research) 

5. Educational (Website, school curricula etc that raise awareness of this Freedom day)

6. Scholarships - For Historically Black Colleges, community college and trade school scholarships to lift up students that are seeking to advance in life.  

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We are currently seeking corporate partners and other supporters to join us on this journey to fund new projects that they can be proud of as we continue to educate the public about the historical significance of June 19th and celebrate the many unknown heroes who helped shape this nation.

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*Due to a period of the declining health of the founder, the board let the organization's entity and activities sunset, but prior to the founder’s passing he and his children restored Juneteenth U.S.A. (JUSA1) as a new legal entity, Juneteenth USA (JUSA 2) in 2020 to continue his life’s work with the guidance of the legacy board members.  Under the Founder’s leadership, the legacy board members met with the sustaining board members and mapped out a path forward which included the legacy board members serving on the current Juneteenth USA’s Advisory Board.

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