Freedom celebration culminates year long diversity series

Omaha City Councilman Ben Gray discusses Juneteenth during a Diversity Lectures and Cultural Arts Series event at UNMC.

Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine it could take six months for news to reach another part of the country. With cell phones, twitter, e-mail and instant messages, we are connected (or overloaded) with information.

But in 1865, news traveled a bit slower.

That’s why it took an extra six months for slaves in Texas and Oklahoma to hear that President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation to free slaves. In June, blacks decided to mark this freedom with a celebration, now known as Juneteenth.

Ben Gray, Omaha civic leader and new city councilman for District 2, presented a lecture on Juneteenth for UNMC’s Diversity Lectures and Cultural Arts Series. In the final event of the year-long series, he discussed the long-lasting effects of slavery and what our community can do to repair the damage.

Ideas for presentations? If you have ideas for cultural events, performances or lecture topics, please contact Linda Cunningham, at 559-7394 or lcunning@unmc.edu.

“It’s about privilege and responsibility,” Gray said. “We must begin to have difficult conversations about this — not to point a finger or assign blame — but to understand history and work together to solve the residual problems.”

Gray’s lecture sparked a great conversation about race relations in Omaha. Audience members shared their impressions and experiences.

“The sharing of ideas, experiences and thoughts about culture and diversity is what this series is all about,” said Linda Cunningham, diversity specialist in the human resources department. “It was a fantastic year of educational events and celebration of various cultures.”

Popular cultural events included the Asian tea ceremony, TANGO dance event and a performance by jazz flutist, Galen.

In addition, the series had a strong educational component that featured thought-provoking discussions about race, storytelling and micro-aggressions or unintentional offenses in the workplace and community.

“This was such a successful year and thanks to the support of John Russell, assistant vice chancellor of human resources, we will be able to offer this series to employees again next year,” Cunningham said.

The series will resume in October.