BC Honors Juneteenth with Important Discussions about Race

Thursday, July 2, 2020

In light of the recent political demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others, Bakersfield College engaged in a series of diverse and important discussions about race and law enforcement around Juneteenth, a day celebrated as the end of slavery in the United States.

In the weeks leading up to Juneteenth, BC President Sonya Christian encouraged everyone in our community to #LightACandle and submit written or video testimonials for publication on our Juneteenth website. We also partnered with Danny Morrison Media and Beacon Studios on a series of social media livestream discussions with current and former BC staff, the Bakersfield Police Department, and local youth.

For the week of June 15-19, we aired four hour-long videos with testimonials from community leaders, highlights from the Danny Morrison livestreams, and commitments from BC faculty and staff and community leaders. A list of every video aired during these presentations is available under the "Program" tab on the Juneteenth website.

The conversation around these important issues will continue once a month during a partnership with Danny Morrison titled #RealTalk. These #RealTalk discussions will stream live on the Facebook page for Danny Morrison Media, so make sure to like the page and stay tuned as this conversation continues.