For Release: June 18 , 2007
The next edition of Connections with Renee Shaw welcomes State Representative Reginald Meeks to the program to discuss Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration commemorat ing the end of slavery in the United States. The program , airing Saturday, July 7 at 3/2 p.m. CT on KET1 and on Sunday, July 8 at 11:30/10:30 a.m. CT on KET2 , also features author Rosetta Lucas Quisenberry, who discusses her collection of racially charged mid-19th century postcards.O n June 19, 1865 , Union soldiers, led by Major Gen . Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston with news that the war had ended and that the slave s were now free . Since then, ma ny blacks have recognize d this date, known as Juneteeth, as Independence Day for African-Americans. Renee talks with Rep. Meeks about the traditions and customary celebrations that have evolved over that last 142 years in celebration of the historical milestone and the push to have Juneteenth more widely recognized
Then , Renee also speaks with Rosetta Lucas Quisenberry, an author and former educator in Lexington , who has turned a collection of mid-19th century postcards with stereotypical and racist depictions of African-Americans into four books. At age 24, Quisenberry became aware of these postcards while browsing through an antique mall in Kentucky. Enraged by the postcard images, and the laughter it provoked from caucasian onlookers, Quisenberry began a quest to buy and rid them from the market. She talks about how almost 30 years after she began collecting the defaming postcards, she saw the need to share this painful piece of history of others to prevent it from being repeated.
Connections with Renee Shaw is a KET production, produced by Renee Shaw and Carolyn Gwinn. More about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org .