Circle Back June 17, 2022

Culture.

It's Juneteenth weekend, with the State of Louisiana observing the holiday today, we commemorate the announcement of emancipation made by Union Army General Gordon Granger in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865, proclaiming the freedom of the 250,000 enslaved Black people in Texas at the time.

This weekend, we'll be celebrating the freedom we enjoy while not forgetting all of the members of our community who’s freedom is compromised by financial and educational inequities and the loophole of the 13th Amendment.

“Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” Fannie Lou Hamer

Learn more about Juneteenth and the Juneteenth Legacy Project at JuneteenthLegacyProject.com.

Inspiration.

"I am my ancestors' wildest dreams."

Visual Artist, Brandan Odums (@bmike2c)

Remarkable Fact.

Did you know Uganda announced earlier this month that they'd discovered an enormous gold deposit of 31 million tons?

It's worth $12.8 Trillion.

Read more about the exploration results and plans to mine the gold from Nasdaq.

We learned about it from Tik Tok @portcityvibes.

Challenge.

Our challenge this week comes from @thedeep.life on Instagram.

Here's a question to start a conversation with your dad or the father figure in your life this weekend.

"If you could find out the answer to any one question in the world, what would it be?"

If you do ask, make a video and tag us. We'd like to know!

Last week's #Culture Tag - WTAWTAW

Answer: "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Louisiana.

This week, we were happy to read about some great opportunities for a few young men across Louisiana. ULM hosted a luncheon honoring the second group of Reginald F. Lewis scholars.

Eighteen young Black men from the University of Louisiana system of universities across the state were pinned and inducted into the program.

Each member receives a full scholarship and engages the young men in an annual retreat, a service-learning project and a study-abroad trip during their college enrollment.

Read more from The Shreveport Times

Entertainment.

Essence Festival of Culture is returning to New Orleans in just a couple of weeks, and we can't wait! With performances from Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj and Jazmine Sullivan; D-Nice and Summer Walker - the entertainment will be unforgettable.

A new addition to the weekend is a section of the Festival focusing just on men. The "In His Zone" Experience will focus on everything from fatherhood to money, sports and self-care for men.

According to Nola.com, Essence CEO Caroline Wanga says Essence Fest is returning bigger and "Unapologetically Blacker."

We're looking forward to having a great time at Essence Fest 2022! Check out the full Festival Line-Up and Experiences at https://www.essence.com/essence-festival-2022/.

That's all for this week; we hope you had a good one and are gearing up for a wonderful Juneteenth and Father's Day weekend! Be sure to follow us at @socialcircleofla and https://www.facebook.com/SocialCircleofLouisiana/ and check out our website socialcircleofla.com