Bay Area

Vallejo Juneteenth Committee Awards Scholarships to Solano County Students

For the second year in a row, the organization could not hold Vallejo’s Annual Juneteenth Celebration due to COVID-19. AAFRC President Gwendolyn White says launching the scholarship program also celebrates other first time milestones for Vallejo in this historic year for Juneteenth which became a federal holiday on June 19.

Published

3 years ago

July 7, 2021

Isabelle Price

The African American Family Reunion Committee, which sponsors Vallejo's Annual Juneteenth Celebration, raised the official Juneteenth Flag at an inaugural ceremony on June 1 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park where the banner was displayed during the entire month of June. (l-r) Juneteenth members attending the program included Derek Crutchfield, Sandra Stowes, Angela Jones (at podium), Margaret Plump, Rosemary Thurston, Dr. Genea Brice, and A. Marie Young. Photo courtesy: MEL Media

Vallejo, CA | The African American Family Reunion Committee, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, has awarded the 2021 Juneteenth Scholarship to six high school students in the Class of 2021.

The students graduated from schools in the Solano County area and will each receive a $500 educational award. All the students have chosen colleges they plan to attend in the fall. The scholarships were awarded to Sanaa Carson, Buckingham Collegiate Charter School, Vacaville (Tuskegee Institute); Madison Firle, Benicia High School (Howard University); Lawrence Hargraves II, Jesse Bethel High School (San Jose State University); Rosemarie Louissaint, St. Vincent-St. Patrick High School (Spellman College); Mia Martin, Vacaville High School (UC Santa Cruz), and Karly Welch, Fairfield High School (Holy Names College).

For the second year in a row, the organization could not hold Vallejo’s Annual Juneteenth Celebration due to COVID-19. AAFRC President Gwendolyn White says launching the scholarship program also celebrates other first time milestones for Vallejo in this historic year for Juneteenth which became a federal holiday on June 19.

“We raised the official Juneteenth flag in an inaugural ceremony on June 1 with the City Council’s unanimous approval which is the first time this flag has flown in our city.” White added that Vallejo is the first city in Solano County to officially display the Juneteenth flag.

Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln January 1, 1863. On June 19, 1865, two and half years later at a church gathering in Galveston, Texas, Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of the Civil War and that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree.