Join Us to Celebrate the DC Emancipation Day, April 15 &16, 2023

Parade on April 15, 1:30 PM; Panel Discussion, April 16, 6:30 PM

Panel Discussion on the Struggle for DC Statehood 

Sunday, April 16 at 6:30 to 7:45 PM at The Gathering Spot DC

DC Emancipation Day Parade on April 15, 1:30 to 3:00 PM

When: Saturday, April 15, 1:30pm to 3:00pm
Where: Downtown DC, intersection of 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Come celebrate the emancipation of enslaved peoples of DC on April 16, 1862 - 8 months before the Emancipation Proclamation. Join together as a community to continue the fight for our full rights. We'll march in the
parade with other statehood supporters! We'll celebrate DC with other statehood supporters! The parade is from 2-3 with a city-sponsored concert on Freedom Plaza directly afterwards.

Email Anne at statehoodteam [at] lwvdc.org  to let us know you are coming.

DC Emancipation Day Panel Discussion, Sunday April 16

Registration: Click HERE

April 16th is a celebration of President Lincoln’s D.C. Compensated Emancipation Act, which freed approximately 3,000 African Americans in 1862 during the Civil War. More than 150 years later, residents in D.C. are still not afforded the same rights as their fellow citizens in other states. During this Emancipation Day celebration, we will lift up the struggle of DC Statehood as a human rights and racial justice issue and will bring DC leaders leading this fight for a panel discussion.

This event will be in-person and streamed on Facebook Live. 

Click HERE to register and for information on the panelists who will be speaking.