The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) is honored to present Our Road To Freedom: Jab, J’ouvert, Revelry and Resistance, our second annual Juneteenth celebration, grounded in our 50th Anniversary Year exhibition, curated by Know Your Caribbean.
The Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI) is honored to present Our Road To Freedom: Jab, J’ouvert, Revelry and Resistance, our second annual Juneteenth celebration, grounded in our 50th Anniversary Year exhibition curated by Know Your Caribbean.
Inspired by the alignment of the sacred energies of Juneteenth, summer solstice and Elegua’s Feast Day, this year’s program focuses on Carnival as a ritual of liberation fueling our journey to freedom and opening the path for healing.
Join us as we continue our 50th Anniversary Year celebration by looking at Carnival’s legacy of resistance and joy!
FEATURING:
⏰ 1 PM - 3 PM
📍
CCCADI Firehouse
Special Exhibition Tour led by Know Your Caribbean
We open the day at the CCCADI Firehouse, where Know Your Caribbean will lead a special guided tour of our 50th Anniversary Exhibition Jab, J'ouvert, Revelry & Resistance, sharing the context, stories, and ancestral threads woven into every work on view.
⏰ 3 PM - 4 PM
📍 Starting at
CCCADI Firehouse (120 E 125th St.)
& Ending at CCCADI Ilé Oyin (208 E 126th St.)
Procession
Join us in a community procession from the CCCADI Firehouse, to the Harlem African Burial Grounds, and onward to CCCADI Ilé Oyin. This is when we follow the drum, honor our ancestors, and pay tribute to the Harlem ground we stand in.
⏰ 4 PM - 5 PM
📍 CCCADI Ilé Oyin (208 E 126th St.)
Kalinda Workshop
by Kalinda Kollective
Upon arrival at CCCADI Ilé Oyin, Kalinda Kollective will facilitate a workshop on kalinda, the ancient stickfighting warrior tradition from Trinidad & Tobago. Brought to the Caribbean by enslaved Africans from the Congo, Yoruba and Fon nations, kalinda encodes combat, resistance and music into one single art form. One of the ways in which kalinda is is preserved is through Carnival.
⏰ 4 PM - 5 PM
📍 CCCADI Ilé Oyin (208 E 126th St.)
curators in conversation w/ know your caribbean & exhibition artists
Movement will ease the way into dialogue, with Know Your Caribbean leading a Curators in Conversation panel featuring a number of the artists participating in “Jab, J’ouvert, Revelry & Resistance”. Hear them talk about the work, the tradition, and the road ahead.
⏰ 6 PM - 8 PM
📍 CCCADI Ilé Oyin (208 E 126th St.)
CARNIVAL Fête w/ dj jen jen
Finally, we will close the day with a Carnival Fête featuring a live set by DJ Jen Jen. Come ready to move.
Advance $25 tickets are now available. This is a very special year for us and in the spirit of carrying a 50 year Legacy of Justice, Joy & Resistance into the Future, we are counting on the community that has helped us build this legacy to invest in fueling the next chapter of CCCADI.
Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the United States. It specifically marks June 19, 1865, when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that all enslaved people in the state were free, effectively enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued two and a half years earlier. The day has become a celebration of freedom, culture, and the ongoing fight for racial equality.
Juneteenth represents freedom, resilience, and the triumph of justice over oppression for people of African descent, symbolizing the end of slavery and the ongoing struggle for equality and civil rights.
JAB, J’OUVERT, REVELRY & RESISTANCE" is made possible with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund, New York State Council on the Arts, New York State Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, New York State Senator Cordell Cleare, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council Member Elsie Encarnacion, New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson, New York City Council Member Rita Joseph, New York City Council Member Mercedes Narcisse, the New York City Council Manhattan Delegation and the New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative.