Boston Juneteenth Committee & National Center of Afro-American Artists

The Boston Juneteenth Committee is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 and chaired by long-time Roxbury resident Jumaada Abdal Khallaq H. Smith. Based at the Museum, NCAAA, BJC membership has sustained at more than a dozen and is cross-generational and multi-cultural. Members are united by a deep commitment to building a caring, humane community with positive socio-political and socio-economic values. Over more than a decade of working together and collaboratively with the NCAAA, the BJC has been democratic and open to all. AND The National Center of Afro-American Artists is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit cultural organization founded in Boston in 1968 by Dr. Elma Lewis. Its mission is to annunciate the cultural and artistic contributions of black peoples to global civilization by fostering knowledge and appreciation of the heritage of black people in all fields of the creative arts.

The mission of the BJC is to support the Museum, NCAAA, through joint public programs, and to extend museum services to the community-at-large through educational and entertainment offerings that increase knowledge, foster outreach to all audiences and build community through large-scale, shared events such as the upcoming 15th annual Juneteenth Emancipation Observation and 11th annual Big Head Community Festival. Each of these events promotes civic engagement and corporate responsibility while stimulating the arts and providing vehicles for local entrepreneurs. The BJC is effectively an adjunct educational arm of the NCAAA. Underpinning the long and durable relationship between the BJC and the NCAAA is the conviction that building a wholesome community is work that requires a shared vision and values such as tolerance which altogether make a healthy environment for all generations and social groups. Our organizations demonstrate the productive possibilities that are when all sectors of the community come together as one to honor our elders and prepare a worthy world for our children.