Together Frankfort
Together Frankfort is a non-partisan, volunteer group of Kentuckians who seek to exercise and protect the principles embodied in our Constitution by being engaged and responsible participants in democracy.
Learn the history & context of the Juneteenth holiday. Hear from members of Frankfort's educational, spiritual, & cultural organizations, engage in dialogue about the concept of freedom in Frankfort’s past, present & future.
Partners: Focus on Race Relations, Josephine Sculpture Park, Together Frankfort, The Grand Theatre, Frankfort Plant Board and Beta Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Joe & Debbie Graviss, Sponsors. Just come to the The Grand Theatre at 7 PM Saturday, June 19, 2021. Due to lifting of COVID restrictions, seating is first come, first served. Please join us!
We cannot lose focus on the attacks on our freedoms:
~ Kentucky, and around 19 other states, are proposing and passing legislation aimed at curbing antiracism training and critical race theory in schools.
~ As Texas workers get a new federal holiday, their governor, Greg Abbott, just signed a law prohibiting students from receiving course credit for political activism, or work with policy advocacy organizations on any issue, even, for example, service learning.
~ In Tennessee, school funds can be withheld if teachers link historical events to institutional racism.
~ The U.S. Supreme Court, nine (9) years ago, struck down portions of America’s major attempt to address voter access to the poll, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
~ Federal voting rights legislation has been proposed, repeatedly, to correct the disaster created by the Supreme Court voting rights ruling, and the bills either died in committee, or as happened in 2019, the Republican-led Senate refused to even bring the bill up for a vote.
Together Frankfort commends the many, especially the African American leaders, organizations, and businesses, who have worked tirelessly for years to make Juneteenth a national holiday. We join them in also demanding that this be the start of vital changes to address our nation’s history of racial injustice.
; Together Frankfort's Statement on Enactment of Juneteenth Federal Legislation
Juneteenth National Independence Day Act
(June 18, 2021; Frankfort KY) Together Frankfort commends Kentucky’s Members of Congress who voted in support of Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, which was signed into law yesterday, June 17.
Karen Armstrong-Cummings, former Together Frankfort Chair, emphasized that,
“The federal Juneteenth law is a huge achievement. However, unless Congress moves to enact the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, a Juneteenth federal law is mere window-dressing on our democratic republic. Unless state legislators stop their attack on the fact-based teaching of our nation's history, the Juneteenth federal law celebrates a holiday that our nation's teachers cannot teach our children.”