Events

Tommy Meeks, Founder of Juneteenth 1865, announces Apollo Night at the Mendelssohn — an event to raise funds for the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Rockford Juneteenth in 2020. Tickets are now on sale for the December 28th event.

Hosted by the beautiful Nooney B, the December 28th event, Apollo Night at the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center, in Rockford, Illinois is just around the corner. Fundraiser proceeds will benefit the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Rockford Juneteenth in 2020.

Apollo Night includes cash prizes, music by DJ Rated AG, a special guest appearance by Author Omar Muhammad (The Kids Who Cried Wolf: Roscetti Case), and the infamous money dance.

The event will be held from 7 pm – 12 am and will offer a cash bar and hors d'oeuvres. Join us for a night of show-stopping performances, followed by music and dancing — as we end the year on a high note.

Tickets are now on sale for $30. Visit the website (https://www.juneteenth1865.com/) to purchase tickets or call 815-218-2861 (Tommy Meeks) for additional ticketing options. If you can't attend the fundraiser and would still like to contribute to Juneteenth, donations are being also being accepted on the website.

What is Juneteenth —

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. June 19, 1865 — more than two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves — Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the proclamation. Union leader Gordon Granger told over 250,000 enslaved people of Texas that they were free.

“Our ancestors went through a lot. As a nation, as a collective, we’ve never really acknowledged the 246 years of slavery, and the depth of it, nor the trauma it caused. They endured hundreds of years of slavery, and then another hundred years of discrimination. I created Juneteenth 1865 to educate young individuals and all individuals to grasp that they (our ancestors) sacrificed so that we’d have a better life,” stated Tommy Meeks, President of ICRG (Inner City Reconstruction Group) and Founder of Rockford Juneteenth Celebrations.

About Juneteenth 1865 
Tommy Meeks created Juneteenth 1865 to raise awareness of Juneteenth and to promote and cultivate knowledge and appreciation of African American history. Rockford Juneteenth events celebrate freedom and achievement for African Americans — while encouraging respect for all cultures