VIDEO: Juneteenth Highlights

Right after Angela Washington — an equal employment opportunity officer with Montgomery County’s Office of Human Resources — finished her contemporary dance performance to “Go Down Moses,” James Stowe, director of the county’s office of human rights, walked to the middle of the stage and, without a microphone, began to sing “Deep River.”

 “Oh he has a wonderful bass voice,” said Washington ahead of the county’s 16th annual  Juneteenth Celebration at BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown on Thursday. 

There were plenty of spurts of county talent throughout the Montgomery County’s commemoration of Juneteenth, one of many nationwide homages to the day Union Gen. Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, in order to recapture the state and enforce the emancipation of the slaves.

In Germantown, there were performances by student awardees of the NAACP’s ACT-SO program — including recent Northwest High School Graduate Ryan Green, whose dance routine wowed the crowd. Underground Railroad re-enactor Connie Robinson, dressed as Mary Peck Bond, the daughter of an Underground Railroad conductor.

There were also selections from the Montgomery County Law Enforcement Gospel Choir.

 The program was sponsored by several county departments, the Montgomery Coalition of Black Police Officers and the Ross Boddy Community Center. County Executive Isiah Leggett and Councilman Craig Rice, D-2nd district, and Council man George Leventhal, D-at large, presented a proclamation, as did representatives for U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and U.S. Rep. Christopher Van Hollen, Jr.

Dr. Suresh K. Gupta received a community service award during the program.