By Gifty A. Boateng
The African American community in Ghana, is this month marking the 1863 abolition of slavery, mainly in the Southern States of the United States (US) with it yearly Juneteenth Celebration.
The month-long commemoration is bringing together members of the community and people from all walks of life, to mark this important black emancipation, resilience, and diasporan unity, after several years of oppression. 
Led by the African American Association of Ghana (AAAG), the Association in this year’s event, has partnered with interest groups, including the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).
As part of the event, they have outlined several programme of activities, which commenced with a symbolic freedom walk of oppression, to liberation, from the historic W. E. B. Dubois Centre to the Accra Tourist Information Centre days ago.
Other events on the first day, were cultural displays by students from different schools and musical performances from schools, including Accra Academy, panel interactions, acrobatic displays, Juneteenth Marketplace, wellness and youth zones and cultural tribute concert, featuring Ghanaians and diaspora artists.
There was also a Father’s Day Barbecue at the Dubois Centre, to celebrate fathers.
There are also events throughout the month, some being film screening at the Accra Mall, volunteer project at African STEM Academy dubbed; Juneteenth Service Day, at Mamprobi Basic 4 Ebenezer School, slated for Saturday June 28.
Speaking to the media after the freedom walk, Vice President of the African American Association of Ghana, Maurice Cheetham, gave a brief historical background of Juneteenth celebration.
Tracing back to 1863, Cheetham, said it was the period the then American president, Abraham Lincoln, announced the end to slavery in the southern states. 
Unfortunately for them, even though there was the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, the news did not get to the people until two years later blaming the situation on lack of appropriate communication means.
“There was no Tiktok, there was no Instagram, there was no web so for two years, they were kept in bondage until they found out in 1865 when the union soldiers came in and let them know that they were free.
“So that is why we’re celebrating this today. We are celebrating our culture, our history, our tradition which is your tradition, which is our tradition”.
Describing African Americans as, “foundation of black community” Cheetham, said the journey to for instance integrate into the Ghanaian society has been smooth and are affecting it positively.
“Several of us run community organizations that give back. I can’t even name. We have a group in the vault who just built a school. We have Active STEM Academy, I have a STEM Academy where I work with the youth”, he noted.
The vice president, also expressed concern about the deliberate agenda to erase black history in America, stressing that, “slavery is being erased. It is literally being taken out of the books so we don’t talk about this, and we don’t discuss”.
He said, Juneteenth celebration is also a way to create awareness as many Ghanaians are unaware and it significance, emphasizing the need to continue to, “share a part of our history and install tradition and history and make this an annual tradition so that we celebrate and share.”
Cheetham, also added his voice to the growing calls by African governments for reparation from developed countries to Africans expressing saying he supports the idea.
He said, the request stems from a promise by ex-president Lincoln that, “every one of our ancestors who were turned into slaves would get 40 acres and a mule. That was a promise made by the United States of America. To this day, we have not received that.”
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) representative speaking on behalf of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Maame Efua Sakyi Aidoo Houadjeto, noted that, as an institution responsible for marketing and promoting Ghana, they were excited to partner the Association, as they saw it as an important part of the Authority’s agenda to sell Ghana.
Bright Asempa Tsadidey, highlighted the relevance of Juneteenth, stressing there is more to it, than marking it simply as a period when slavery was abolished.
“Juneteenth is not just a commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States, it is a call to reflection, unity, and forward movement for the global African family. Today we gather on this sacred land, we are not only celebrating freedom, but also resilience, identity, and the enduring bonds between Africa and its Diapora”.
Recalling past activities with the diaspora, Tsadidey, said during the past government’s flagship ‘Your of Return’ and ‘Beyond the Return programmes, African Americans responded to call to return to their roots, Ghana.
He lauded the immense contributions of the diaspora over the years, saying it makes it right that they reciprocate the gesture, pledging government’s commitment to continue on the path of collaboration and foster ties with the diaspora.
“That is why you see that the Ghana Tourism Authority is fully involved with Juneteenth. One thing I have mentioned is that they do a lot of projects and activities supporting the tourism industry. So it is time for us also to support and push this agenda so that we would have a lot of African Americans still coming into the country, connecting with their roots.”
Juneteenth is a very important milestone in the U.S, he noted,” adding “Juneteenth is a big moment for African Americans and rightly so, because it provides them a time to believe in themselves “so it gives them the right, the strength, the support, to believe in themselves as Africans living in the diaspora
Juneteenth officially called Juneteenth National Independence Day is a holiday on 19 June to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the US.
The holiday was first celebrated in Texas, where on that in 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, enslaved people were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation.
