City Juneteenth celebrations to include acclaimed muralist Dr. Hubert Massey and youth repainting the “Power to the People” street mural

2024
  • Detroit ACE to join City Council President Mary Sheffield to partner on Northwestern High School's Juneteenth Parade, the city's only Juneteenth Parade

 

Acclaimed Detroit muralist Dr. Hubert Massey will once again join high school students on Juneteenth for the restoration of the City’s first street mural “Power to the People” on Lower Woodward downtown.

The theme of the mural, which Detroit ACE commissioned in 2021, was chosen by a panel of youth that preferred Massey’s message, which they’d heard for the first time, to “Black Lives Matter.” The mural will be relocated to the east side of Woodward between Congress and Larned from the west side. Lower Woodward will be closed on the east side from        7:30 a.m. on June 19 to 7 a.m. on June 20.  

The project, done in partnership with the City Department of Public Works, is part of the City’s commemoration of Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day and Emancipation Day celebrating the emancipation of the formerly enslaved in the United States.

Detroit ACE partnered with General Motors (GM) on the first painting, whose goal was and remains to teach students about art, about history and about careers in both. The City of Detroit is funding this year’s installation.

This year’s lunch and student stipends are sponsored by the Kresge Foundation. The mural is first of three that ACE has had planned, thanks to the Kresge Foundation. The other two sites have not yet been determined.

 

JUNETEENTH PARADE

Additionally, Detroit ACE also will join Council President Mary Sheffield to support the Northwestern High School Juneteenth Parade, the city’s only parade commemorating the holiday. The parade will begin at 9 a.m. at the high school located at 2200 W. Grand Blvd., Detroit, MI 48208. The school also will host a resource fair for the community featuring information on financial literacy and health. 

The parade is sponsored by Huntington Bank. Council President Sheffield and Keith D. Williams of Courageous Sports are the parade’s Co-Grand Marshals.

                                                                                ###

About Detroit ACE

Detroit ACE is the City’s Office of Arts, Culture and Entrepreneurship, which oversees the City’s investments in arts, culture and history. It develops opportunities for residents to experience music and art in neighborhoods across the city and offers support for one of the nation’s greatest creative workforces. Follow ACE on Instagram and Twitter (now X).