Celebrate Juneteenth in Historic Seneca Village

Celebrate the spirit of community and the history of Seneca Village with music and poetry!
This Juneteenth, celebrate with the Central Park Conservancy and an intergenerational community of musicians and poets in the historic Seneca Village landscape in Central Park. Through live performances and poetry readings inspired by the lives of former residents, we will engage with the unique history of Seneca Village—deepening our collective awareness of this significant 19th-century free Black community while bridging past and present.
Music and performances are from 12:30 pm–3:00 pm, featuring:
- The Rakiem Walker Project
- Kai Diata Giovanni, 2024-2025 NYC Youth Poet Laureate
- Kayden Hern, 2023 New York Gubernatorial Inauguration Poet Laureate
- Courtney Symone Staton
- Jayden Antwine
The Seneca Village landscape is between West 85th Street and West Drive. Enter the Park at W 85th St.

This event is part of Seneca Village: Toward a Permanent Commemoration, an ongoing program series funded by the Mellon Foundation. The program series will culminate in a community-informed framework guiding the future design of a permanent commemoration of Seneca Village in Central Park.
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