A day-long symposium on Juneteenth, one of the oldest observances marking the end of the enslavement of African descendants in the United States. The holiday has been celebrated in Galveston, Texas, since June 19, 1865, when news of the Emancipation Proclamation first was announced in Texas. Today, Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom with an emphasis on education and literacy. The opened with a history of Juneteenth. Three panels followed on "The State of Black Literature," "The "Stakeholders of Black Literacy" and "Independent Artists: Our Journey as Storytellers of the African Diaspora."

Speaker Biography: Hari Jones is curator of the African American Civil War Museum in Washington, D.C.

Speaker Biography: Haki Madhubuti is founder of of Third World Press, the longest-running independent black-owned publishing company in the U.S.

Speaker Biography: E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist, poet and editor.

Speaker Biography: Nikki Woods is a social media consultant and senior producer of "The Tom Joyner Morning Show."

Speaker Biography: Yanick Rice-Lam is a journalist, associate professor at Howard University and co-founder of FierceforBlackWomen.com, a digital health and fitness network.

Speaker Biography: Brenda Greene is director of the National Black Writers Conference and executive director of the Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York.

Speaker Biography: Bomani Armah is known as "Mr. Read a Book" and the "Poet with a Hip-Hop Style."

Speaker Biography: Bahiyyah Muhammad is assistant professor of criminology at Howard University and founder of "Project Iron Kids," which educates and empowers children of incarcerated parents.

Speaker Biography: Rahman Branch is former principal of Ballou High School in Washington, D.C., and the first executive director of the Office of African American Affairs in the Office of the Mayor of the District of Columbia.

Speaker Biography: Gabriel "Asheru" Benn is an international hip-hop artist and co-founder of Educational Lyrics, which sponsors H.E.L.P, the Hip Hop Educational Literacy Program.

Speaker Biography: Beverly East is an international forensic-document examiner and author.

Speaker Biography: Hafiz F. Shabazz is adjunct assistant professor and director of the World Music Percussion Ensemble at Dartmouth College, where he developed the "Oral Tradition Musicianship" course and produced more than 85 major concerts.

Speaker Biography: Haile Gerima is distinguished professor of film at Howard University and an independent Ethiopian filmmaker who produced and directed the 1993 film "Sankofa."

For transcript and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=7150