Juneteenth

The small Mississippi town where the monster hit movie "Sinners" is set doesn't have a movie theater, which sucks for the townsfolk who want to know what all the hubbub is about ... but that's about to change, TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... Clarksdale, a town of about 15,000, hasn't had a movie theater for years, which means peeps have to travel an hour to the closest big city -- Memphis, Tennessee -- to see a flick ... and that's a chore most residents don't have the time or money to bother with, even to see a cultural phenomenon set in their own community.

Clarksdale’s Mayor Chuck Espy tells TMZ ... the city has been in talks with Warner Bros., and a special event is going to take place so everyone who wants to see the film on the big screen finally will have the chance!

Snoop Dogg couldn't be any more proud of Kendrick Lamar for uniting all sections of the West Coast ... a true act of a KING, at least according to the Dogg Father.

The West Coat OG hopped on Instagram Friday to sing K. Dot's praises, presumably he just caught up on the festivities.

Kendrick and Dave Free set up the plays -- Dr. Dre, Roddy Ricch, YG, Ab-Soul, Ty Dolla $ign, DJ Hed, Mustard, Tyler, The Creator and many more graced the Pop Out stage ... but no S-N-Double-O-P?!???

An Oakland Juneteenth celebration ended in tragedy when multiple people got shot ... and the whole thing was on video, including footage of folks running and ducking for cover.

The festivities went down at Lake Merritt -- a lagoon centrally located in the city -- and took a turn for the worse Wednesday evening ... after a group of individuals started doing donuts in cars and on motorbikes at a major intersection in town.

Video from the sideshow before bullets started flying looks relatively fun/ innocent -- this type of thing is common in the Bay Area, BTW -- with lots of people laughing and enjoying themselves.

Kendrick Lamar put on one of the biggest hip hop moments in recent memory Wednesday night in Inglewood ... and there were a lot of highlights on the heels of the Drake beef.

The concert served as the ultimate victory lap in what many have called a crushing win against Drizzy in their recent rap battle -- and the reason is pretty clear ... KL played "Not Like Us" 5 times in a row, and the instrumental even closed out the show!

Kendrick made sure Juneteenth 2024 will go down in history ... West Coast DJs Hed and Mustard opened the show and offered no shortage of cameos and hype music for the crowd.

Kendrick Lamar's "Pop Out" concert in L.A. looked something like NBA All-Star Weekend ... with LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan and James Harden all attending the massive event -- and two of the superstar ballers even hopped onstage!!

K. Dot set the world on fire during his Juneteenth unity celebration at the Kia Forum on Wednesday ... where he performed his iconic Drake disses for the first time, as well as all the classics from his discography.

Bron, Russ, DeMar and Harden were all present for the epic night of music ... and when the time came for Kendrick to perform "Not Like Us" (several times in a row, mind you), Westbrook and DeRozan were right by his side -- as well as DJ Mustard, who produced the scathing track.

President Biden threw a big bash at the White House ... an early celebration for the upcoming Juneteenth holiday ... and it looks like Joe was in a happy daze.

Biden and VP Kamala Harris were front and center Monday night on the famous South Lawn, chillin' with Billy Porter, among others who came out for the celebration ... which included a concert and a standup comedy performance.

POTUS knows how to host a party ... the main draw here was live music with performances by Gladys Knight, Patti Labelle, Kirk Franklin, Doug E. Fresh and Trombone Shorty. Solid lineup, for sure. Comedian Roy Wood Jr. served as the opening act.

Floyd Mayweather, despite being attacked in the ring by John Gotti III after their fight, was still able to share a cool moment with his longtime business partner, with both men receiving a custom Juneteenth belt in a back hallway of the venue.

The ceremony was originally supposed to go down inside the ring, but the subsequential brawl made that impossible. Still, the 50-0 legend, along with WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, presented CEO Jas Mathur with the World Boxing Council Championship Freedom Belt.

Mayweather also received the commemorative strap.

The belt, the WBC says, celebrates "the remarkable achievements and visionary leadership demonstrated by Mr. Mathur and Limitless X for their contributions to the sporting and business community."

“Thank you to Mauricio and the WBC for creating and presenting me and my partners with this unique freedom belt to commemorate Juneteenth,” Floyd told us.

"The WBC has always led by example. I am honored to receive the belt along with Robert Smith, who is the largest civil rights activist in our history, and Jas Mathur my dear friend and partner."

Mayweather's friend, billionaire philanthropist Robert Smith, also received the Freedom Belt at a dinner Saturday night in South Florida.

Mathur, who has worked alongside Floyd for years, was touched by the gift, writing, "It is truly an honor to receive this championship belt from the World Boxing Council."

Of course, Mayweather and Gotti III fought in an 8-round exhibition fight on Sunday ... which erupted into chaos after the grandson of the legendary mobster attacked Floyd after the ref stopped the fight.

A one-of-a-kind belt will be presented when Floyd Mayweather and John Gotti's grandson meet in the ring next month ... with the World Boxing Council designing a special Juneteenth-themed keepsake for the exhibition.

TBE and John Gotti III are slated to fight on June 11 in Florida ... which falls just over a week before the federal holiday.

Given the historic significance of Juneteenth, we're told the WBC wanted to commemorate the day as part of the weekend's festivities by presenting the unique belts to Floyd, as well as Robert Smith, James McNair, and Deon Taylor for their contributions to society.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán spoke with TMZ Sports on the move ... saying "Juneteenth is a national holiday and Floyd Mayweather is the best representative for success and glory through hard work and dedication."

"The WBC will thank and support these four great men who make life better for all every single day."

The belt features broken chains and hands shaking ... as well as the usual "WBC World Champion" etched on the front with "Juneteenth" underneath.

The whole boxing match, put together by Floyd's friend Jona Rechnitz, will be a celebration ... with Ozuna and Lunay set to bring the vibes.

It's only Juneteenth's second year as a national holiday, but it's been official with Lizzo for much longer than that, and -- like many other celebs -- she's going big to celebrate.

The singer says she's been celebrating Juneteenth since her childhood in Houston, but for the third straight year she's getting her fans in on the festivities with a huge giveaway that includes a chance for them to fly out and hang with her.

Lizzo also posted why the holiday is so important -- "Juneteenth is about giving Black citizens of this country our own Declaration of Independence. It is about the complicated and nuanced history we have with this country".

June 19, aka Juneteenth, marks the day in 1865 when the last enslaved people in America -- in Galveston, TX -- got the word President Lincoln had abolished slavery two-and-a-half years earlier with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was finally recognized as a federal holiday in 2021.

Mariah Carey marked the day with a photo of her twins, Morocco and Monroe, looking at photos of Mariah's father. She captioned the Juneteenth/Father's Day post with "Celebrate your black excellence."

There were many others ... including Justin Bieber and Pharrell, who took a moment to share his own words after hitting the stage for Day 3 of the Something In the Water festival in Washington, D.C.

The Juneteenth Foundation's Freedom Festival was also held in D.C.

The celebration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday is a combination of solemn moments and all-out partying -- featuring multiple generations of music superstars -- to mark the occasion.

The biggest party went down Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl where Chaka Khan, Earth Wind & Fire, Khalid, Billy Porter and many more took the stage and got the sold-out crowd on its collective feet.

The concert event -- "Juneteenth: A Global Celebration of Freedom" -- aired live on CNN, and Chaka's performance was especially rousing, backed by The Roots, she belted out her hits "Ain't Nobody" and "I'm Every Woman" ... while EWF and Bell Biv Devoe also played crowd favorites "Groove Tonight" and "Poison."

President Biden and Vice President Harris recorded messages to address the Hollywood Bowl audience ... and called the holiday a "time to celebrate, time to educate and time to act."

Meanwhile, the activist who fought hard for years to get Juneteenth federal holiday status also marked the day.

95-year-old Opal Lee completed a 2.5 mile walk in Fort Worth -- symbolizing the 2.5 years it took for the enslaved African-Americans in Galveston, TX to get the news that President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.

That happened on June 19, 1865 ... hence the holiday's name, Juneteenth. While it's long been unofficially recognized -- especially in the Black community -- it didn't become a federal holiday until last year.

Opal's suggestion for all Americans to recognize the holiday -- "I advocate that we celebrate from the 19th of June to the 4th of July. That would be celebrating freedom."

As the nation gets ready for the 2nd celebration of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, Wale's revealing his plans for Sunday ... and offering some helpful tips for anyone who doesn't look like him, but still wants to turn up.

We caught up with the D.C.-bred rapper at LAX, and asked how he plans to spend the day -- and while he was at first taken aback, he eventually coughed up a great answer ... simply root for everyone Black!

Now, our photog -- a gent of Caucasian persuasion -- politely asked how he could also have a happy Juneteenth, and again ... Wale dropped a jewel of a response.

If this convo with Wale sounds familiar, it's because it was the basis for his 2019 video "Sue Me" ... where he reversed racial roles in a chilling depiction.

President Biden signed the bill last year to make Juneteenth a national bank holiday, making it the first new federal day off since MLK Day in 1983.

The video game developer for "Halo Infinite" is under fire for rolling out a new nameplate to honor Juneteenth ... folks are enraged the customization was named after an ape.

The folks over at 343 Industries apparently thought it would be a good idea to title the nameplate -- a palette adding a red, black and green colorway to a player's username -- "Bonobo" ... which is an endangered primate.

Problem is ... folks were angry with the association of apes with Juneteenth, considering the racist and discriminatory history between those words and Black people.

As you know ... Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, commemorating the day the last enslaved Americans got the news President Lincoln had abolished slavery.

In response to the backlash, the video game developer renamed the nameplate to "Freedom" and then to "Juneteenth."

343 Industries says the nameplate was originally named "Bonobo" in reference to a developer tool -- and they claim it was an oversight on their end.

Bonnie Ross, the founder and head of 343 Industries, says once they were made aware the nameplate "contained a term that was offensive and hurtful" they immediately made a change with a game update.

The Indianapolis Children's Museum is in hot water after serving up a racially insensitive dish ... specifically to commemorate Juneteenth.

Yes, that pic shows the watermelon salad being sold in the museum cafeteria, and they're not even subtle about the racism, as the label reads ... "Juneteenth Watermelon Salad."

One ticked-off patron's reaction to the shocking menu item was, "No joke!!!"

A rep for the museum is defending the salad, saying its food service partners "planned a Juneteenth menu as a way for us to raise awareness of the holiday's meaning, and commemorate their own family traditions."

While that makes it sound like the food service company is Black-owned, we haven't been able to confirm that yet.

The rep also says "Red foods have historically been served by some to remember the blood that was shed along the way to freedom." We've never heard that one before, but okay.

They did offer a mea culpa though, saying, "The museum apologizes and acknowledges the negative impact that stereotypes have on communities of color. We have removed the salad from our menu. We value our relationships with all of our visitors and communities. We have learned from this experience."

The museum -- which is throwing a "Juneteenth Jamboree" -- correctly states on its website that Juneteenth is a holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S., and is also called Emancipation Day or Juneteenth Independence Day.

Welp, here's the latest entry to the Tone-Deaf Marketing Hall of Fame (there really should be one by now) ... Walmart's Juneteenth Ice Cream is MOA -- melting on arrival -- with critics, as one might expect.

As soon as the retail giant started putting the "Celebration Edition" on its freezer shelves ... the Twitter mob sounded off, calling the idea "garbage," and worse. The pints contain swirled red velvet and cheesecake ice cream flavors ... and included the message, "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope."

Yes, all positives, but also ... exploitive for capitalism's sake??? That's the tone of the backlash against Walmart ahead of the new federal holiday -- June 19th will mark the 2nd year it's recognized -- which commemorates the day the last enslaved Americans got the news President Lincoln had abolished slavery.

Walmart is also launching a similar "celebration edition" for Pride Month, which is also coming up in June. That flavor is white chocolate ice cream with brownies and cherries.

Depending on your viewpoint ... that's either equal opportunity, or equally offensive.

Cassandra Freeman, famous for playing Aunt Viv on "Bel-Air," doesn't want to see any Juneteenth ice cream at "the cookout" ... and says Walmart's latest is just plain wrong.

We got Cassandra Monday at LAX and asked her about Walmart's "Celebration Edition Juneteenth Ice Cream" ... which is pissing off the very community it's intending to reach or honor.

Cassandra's got an instant reaction to the tone-deaf dessert ... and it's not good. She's also left wondering what'll be next on Walmart's ice cream shelves, joking about what other historical events can be made into offensive sweets.

As we reported ... Walmart is getting tons of backlash for its newest flavor, a mix of red velvet and cheesecake ice cream along with this message on the package, "Share and celebrate African-American culture, emancipation and enduring hope."

Cassandra isn't surprised it's a Walmart idea, and tells us why Ben and Jerry's would never make the same mistake.

She also blasts the retail giant for its corporate greed and shames whoever greenlit the product for not reading their history books.