Juneteenth Historic Black Story Time: Our History Won’t Be Erased
About this Event
Juneteenth Historic Black Story Time
“Our History Won’t Be Erased”
🎟️ RSVP now. Limited tickets available.
RSVP now: Blackstorytime.eventbrite.com
History hits different when the person telling it did not just study it.
They lived it.
They survived it. 🖤
This year, the Office of State Representative Jolanda “Jo” Jones, Texas House District 147, invites the community to the Annual Juneteenth Historic Black Story Time at Texas Southern University. This is a free, open to the public Juneteenth gathering of truth, memory, civil rights history, Black storytelling, and community witness. 📚
This event will take place inside the Texas Southern University Library Learning Center, in the Special Collections Auditorium on the second floor, next to the library. The Library Learning Center sits in front of the TSU law school, making this a deeply meaningful place to gather, remember, and pass history forward. Guests will be surrounded by a space that feels historic, modern, and powerful, with special collections and preserved artifacts that remind us that history is not dead. It is sitting right in front of us. 🕯️
Juneteenth is not just a date on the calendar. It is the reminder that freedom was delayed, denied, fought for, announced, defended, and remembered. Our theme says exactly what this moment requires:
“Our History Won’t Be Erased.” ❤️💛💚
The evening will begin at 5:30 PM, with remarks from Texas Southern University President Vice Admiral James W. Crawford III beginning at approximately 5:45 PM.
This program will have two powerful sections.
The first section is about surviving Bloody Sunday and the bridge.
Guests will hear from Dr. Alexander Brown, a Bloody Sunday survivor and visionary civil rights leader, back by popular demand. He will not simply help us remember Selma and the Edmund Pettus Bridge. He was there. He lived that history. He survived that violence. He carries the kind of truth that cannot be watered down, cleaned up, or pushed aside for comfort. When Dr. Brown speaks, civil rights history walks out of the textbook and into the room.
The second section is about surviving forced integration.
Guests will hear personally and up close from members of the Galena Park High School Class of 1974, colleagues who lived through forced integration into white schools and saw what that meant for Black students, Black families, Black schools, and Black communities. They will share “A Hard Conversation About Harsh Integration,” including being bussed to Galena Park High School and the closing of Fidelity Manor High School. These are not distant stories from somewhere else. This happened in our own front yard. ✊🏾
These stories matter because too many people are still trying to erase, soften, skip over, or rewrite the truth they never had to survive.
This is a serious gathering. A community gathering. A history gathering. A truth telling space.
Come ready to listen. Come ready to learn. Come ready to honor the history that made us. Then pass the story on. 🖤📚❤️💛💚
Event Details
Who:
Hosted by the Office of State Representative Jolanda “Jo” Jones, Texas House District 147
What:
Annual Juneteenth Historic Black Story Time, a town hall of memory, truth, civil rights history, forced integration, and Black storytelling
When:
Thursday, June 18, 2026
Time:
5:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Where:
Texas Southern University Library Learning Center
Special Collections Auditorium, Second Floor
Next to the library and in front of the TSU law school
Parking:
Free parking will be available in the TSU East Parking Garage for this event.
TSU East Parking Garage:
Located near Cleburne Street and Sampson Street
Main Parking Address:
3702 Tierwester Street
Houston, Texas 77004
Free street parking may also be available near the venue. Please read all posted parking signs carefully. Do not park anywhere marked no parking, restricted, reserved, or otherwise prohibited.
RSVP:
Blackstorytime.eventbrite.com
General Point of Contact:
Ivan Sanchez
District Director, State Representative Jolanda Jones
832 713 4577
Program Agenda
Opening Remarks
Office of State Representative Jolanda Jones
Mistress of Ceremony
The Honorable State Representative Jolanda “Jo” Jones
Texas House District 147
Words From Texas Southern University
Vice Admiral James W. Crawford III
14th President of Texas Southern University
Story Time Session One
Bloody Sunday, The Story of Selma
Dr. Alexander Brown
Visionary Civil Rights Leader
Bloody Sunday Survivor
Story Time Session Two
A Hard Conversation About Harsh Integration
Galena Park High School Class of 1974
Awards and Recognitions
The Honorable State Representative Jolanda “Jo” Jones
Texas House District 147
Closing Remarks
Office of State Representative Jolanda Jones
Thank you for joining us as we celebrate our history, protect our stories, and remember the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans in Texas.
Happy Juneteenth across District 147 and all of Texas. ❤️💛💚🖤
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
