MACON, Ga. — Van tours happening at Macon Terminal Station and a spelling bee happening at the Tubman Museum -- Monday kicked off a week full of Juneteenth events here in Macon.
For William Morris, a Juneteenth celebration has been years in the making.
He says the new focus on the holiday in the last year is what inspired him to take a leap with his idea, the Juneteenth African Spelling Bee.
"I believe based on this spelling bee and the Juneteenth Freedom Festival, when people leave those events, people are gonna be more unified and understanding of where we are as a community," Morris says.
The spelling bee is for children ages 8 to 13, and begins on Thursday at the Tubman Museum.
It's an event that Fathers Among Men staff say they couldn't wait to sign up their students for.
Fred Sterdivant and Carl Myers say it's an organization geared towards keeping young men on the right path through camps, events, and education.
"We already had them drawing their own flags and representation of Juneteenth, and then once they heard about this, it's just been an excitement around it, so they're excited, we're excited," says Myers.
But for those looking to learn some of Macon's Black history, there's another option -- van tours across the city, organized by George Fadil Muhammad.
He says they leave from Macon Terminal Station at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.
"Cotton Avenue, which was a mecca of Black businesses, we talk a lot about the business community. We talk about a lot of Black churches, there's so many historic Black churches here," he says.
All of these Juneteenth-based events are leading up to a festival happening at Tattnall Square Park on Saturday.
There's also a Hip-Hop Summit on Friday and an art show and day party on Saturday.
For a list of events happening across Central Georgia, check out this list: