Cal State LA commemorated Juneteenth with not one but two celebrations on Thursday, June 11.
Leaders from across Los Angeles and the California State University (CSU) system gathered for the “Pathways to Progress: Legacy, Learning, and Leadership” symposium at the Golden Eagle Ballroom from 10 a.m. to noon, which was followed by a campus celebration for students, faculty, staff, and campus partners at the University-Student Union Plaza from 12:15 to 4 p.m.
The symposium was also livestreamed to all 22 CSU campuses, with the Cal State LA watch party held at the University-Student Union Theatre.
“Juneteenth is an utterly and profoundly moving holiday,” said CSU Chancellor Mildred García. “Simultaneously, it’s celebratory and solemn because of its richness and complexity. We rejoice in celebrating all that the Black and African American community has achieved and overcome, even as we acknowledge and mourn with our clear eyes and broken hearts some of the nation’s most painful and shameful moments. Juneteenth also compels us to authentically assess where we stand right now, and what challenges remain to be confronted.”
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. It honors June 19, 1865, the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, following the end of the Civil War to inform the country’s last enslaved individuals that slavery was coming to an end. The troops’ arrival came nearly two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
In June 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law to establish June 19 as a federal holiday.
The third biennial CSU Juneteenth Symposium, sponsored by the CSU in collaboration with the Chancellor’s Office, was attended by 200 invited guests from the civic, business, entertainment, education, and nonprofit sectors. Hosted at Cal State LA, the symposium is a systemwide event that advances dialogue on race, equity, leadership, and opportunity while honoring the history and significance of Juneteenth.
Among those in attendance were CSU Trustee Wenda Fong, CSU Vice Chancellor of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success Dilcie Perez, and Cynthia Mitchell-Heard, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Urban League.
The speakers at the event were in a celebratory mood, but they also cautioned—echoing Chancellor García’s sentiments—that Juneteenth must serve as inspiration for everyone to remain vigilant during the contentious political climate around the country.
“As we commemorate Juneteenth,” Cal State LA President Berenecea Johnson Eanes said, “let us move beyond remembrance to responsibility, beyond celebration to action. Let us leave this symposium committed to creating pathways where none exist, opening doors wider for those who follow, and ensuring that other students, other families, every community has an opportunity to thrive. Because of this legacy we honor today, it is profound that we promise progress, and when we empower dreams, we truly transform lives.”
Marc Morial, president and CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans, provided historical background during his keynote speech—from Juneteenth to the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, from the Compromise of 1877 to the historic 1954 Supreme Court decision on Brown v. Board of Education, which struck down racial segregation in schools.
“In this moment of the assault on the progress made since 1954, my message is we must resist,” Morial said. “We must resist because this is not a political cause; this is a moral cause. It’s a moral command of this generation if we are to be true to a vision of a multiracial American democracy in the 21st century, where everyone can sit side-by-side, where everyone can sit at the table, where everyone can be on a path to prosperity.”
“This nation,” he added, “cannot survive unless we embrace a multicultural nation of the future.”
Radio personality, producer, and activist Dominique DiPrima served as the mistress of ceremonies.
The symposium included the “Pathways to Progress” panel discussion that examined leadership, opportunity, and education that honored the significance of Juneteenth.
The panelists were Tamala Barksdale, chief intelligence officer at madeXus Agency; Zoanne Clack, television writer and executive producer of Grey’s Anatomy; Arinze Jiroh, a psychology and Pan-African studies major at Cal State LA; and Shonda Goward, CSU interim associate vice chancellor for student success. Asia Shabazz, an open-format DJ, experience curator, host, producer, and philanthropist, served as the moderator.
Cal State Dominguez Hills hosted the inaugural CSU Juneteenth Symposium in 2022, and Sacramento State hosted the second in 2024. The Cal State LA event was the first in which the CSU encouraged its campuses throughout the state to hold watch parties for the livestream event, as well as host a separate celebration for their respective communities.
“This allows us to more appropriately honor Juneteenth with a strong system-level convening while ensuring the celebration permeates each of our 22 universities, from the north to the south to the Central Valley, all across California,” García said. “It’s a way of anchoring our broad values of who the CSU represents and the various communities we represent across this wonderful state of California.”
The Choir of First African Methodist Episcopal Church Pasadena opened the symposium with a performance of the Black National Anthem. African Soul International closed the proceedings with a drum performance.
The CSU, the nation’s largest four-year public university system, remains committed to advancing Black student success and fostering inclusive excellence.
Cal State LA double alumna Capri Maddox, who served as chair of the symposium’s advisory committee, said she wanted the event to showcase the resoluteness of the Black community in the face of adversity, and to inspire students to build on the progress made by the people who came before them.
“We are a resilient community, even with all the inequities we are facing now,” said Maddox, executive director of the Los Angeles Civil + Human Rights and Equity Department. “Our committee wanted to take a moment to pause and see how we have overcome, and how unstoppable we are when we put our minds to making life better for our community as a whole—whether it’s struggling to end Jim Crow or fighting for equity in higher education.”
