On Thursday, June 17th at 7:00pm, the Nantucket Book Festival will present a live virtual event to commemorate “Juneteenth”, a celebration marking the actual end of slavery in the United States, as Texas was two and a half years behind the rest of the nation in enforcing Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Hosted by writer and author Mitchell Jackson, our panel will feature four authors who are educators, historians, and artists: Dr. Keisha N. Blain, Imani Perry, Deesha Philyaw, and Clint Smith.

This is a moment in America to reckon with our history. In a year in which issues of racial justice, equity and diversity have risen to center stage, this powerhouse panel will help us listen and learn. Our past has to inform our future. Join the Nantucket Book Festival for this dynamic, enlivening, powerful conversation that seeks to amplify voices that speak to these issues of race in America, and how Juneteenth might magnify our concerns—and our hopes—for our country.