Michigan State University is hosting its sixth annual MSU Juneteenth Commemorative Celebration June 15-19, 2026, bringing together students, faculty, staff, alums and community members. Two faculty members from MSU’s Department of African American and African Studies — LeConté Dill and Liv Furman — are leading events during the weeklong celebration.
Juneteenth marks the day enslaved African Americans in Texas learned of their freedom on June 19, 1865 — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation took effect. A century and a half later, Juneteenth is now a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery. Michigan State University hosts an annual Juneteenth celebration to recognize the diverse contributions of African Americans to the United States while acknowledging the continued pursuit of equality and justice for all.
MSU’s weeklong Juneteenth celebration features a series of educational and community-centered events designed to engage participants through dialogue, storytelling, and action. This year’s theme, “Beyond Freedom: Building Futures, Protecting Our Past and Activating Change,” celebrates past and contemporary artists, scientists, and advocates who work tirelessly to center Black excellence in the American fabric.
To see a full schedule and registration details, visit the MSU Juneteenth Celebration web page.
June 15 – Liv Furman to Lead Workshop Exploring Quilting
Liv Furman (they/them) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of African American and African Studies and Assistant Project Director of the Quilt Index’s Black Diaspora Quilt History Project at MSU. They will lead a workshop, titled “Piecing the Past: Quilts, Stories, and the Legacy of Juneteenth,” on Monday, June 15, in the MSU Main Library’s Green Room. The workshop will begin following the MSU Juneteenth Symposium panel discussion, which starts at 5 p.m.
This hands-on workshop will explore quilting as a powerful form of storytelling where participants will engage in conversation about basic quilting techniques while reflecting on themes of freedom, resilience, and cultural memory. Attendees also will have the opportunity to view quilts from the MSU Museum Quilt Collection.
Furman is a Black non-binary ecowomanist artist, curator, educator, researcher, and memory keeper whose work explores Black womxn’s everyday practices of quilt making, memory keeping, and storytelling as methodologies of resistance, sustainability, and flourishing. Their primary mediums include multimedia and digital collage, ceramics, quilt making, and the written and spoken word. Furman also is an avid urban gardener with interests in Black Ecologies Studies, food justice, food sovereignty, and community sustainability.
June 17 – LeConté Dill to Discuss Debut Book, ‘Soul Survivors’
LeConté Dill, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of African American and African Studies, will discuss her debut book, “Soul Survivors,” in conversation with poet and fiction writer Lisa Bond-Brewer. Together, they will explore the book’s topics, themes, and creation process.
The event takes place Wednesday, June 17, at 6:15 p.m. at WKAR Studio A in the Commuication Arts and Sciences Building and is hosted by journalist and scholar Dr. Christina L. Myers.
“Soul Survivors” is a collection of persona poems in which three Black girl storytellers take readers on journeys through Oakland, Atlanta, and Brooklyn. The book is informed by 15 years of the author’s community-engaged research in and with urban neighborhoods and the young people and organizations there.
Dill is a storyteller, artist, educator, and scholar. Her work is critically informed by years of working in partnership with youth-serving, community- and arts-based organizations across the United States and South Africa. Through her research, teaching, art, and advocacy, she seeks to listen to and show up for Black girls in particular and is committed to documenting their strategies of wellness, healing, and resistance.
This event is the final book talk in the MSU Libraries African American Women Scholars on Race, Racism, and Living Black in America series.
The event is free, but registration is required. Register here.
