Flushing Town Hall Hosts Juneteenth Storytelling Celebration with Award-Winning April Armstrong

On Friday, June 19, Flushing Town Hall (FTH) will celebrate Juneteenth with an evening of storytelling and song, honoring Black history, resilience, and cultural traditions with acclaimed storyteller April Armstrong.

Observed annually on June 19, Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, finally learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. The holiday has since become a tradition of gathering, remembering, and telling the truth and stories about how we arrived in this moment.

The storytelling tradition runs deep in FTH’s history, which was constructed in 1862, the height of the Civil War, to welcome Union soldiers home from their service. FTH has long been a gathering place for voices that matter, including renowned orator Frederick Douglass, who spoke from its stage in 1865. This Juneteenth, FTH honors the history and the storytelling traditions of the community whose freedom it marks.

Flushing Town Hall’s Juneteenth Storytelling Celebration begins at 7 PM and is led by April Armstrong, storyteller and singer whose work has long centered on the histories and voices of the African diaspora. Armstrong draws on folk traditions, spirituals, and the oral storytelling forms that have carried Black history across generations.

She will be joined by a trio of musicians: Mario E. Sprouse (piano/keyboard), Ayodele Maakheru (guitar and banjo), and Napoleon Revels-Bey (drums).

“April Armstrong is an incredibly powerful storyteller and one of the exceptional teaching artists we’re proud to work with year-round,” says Ellen Kodadek, Executive & Artistic Director of Flushing Town Hall. “We’re thrilled to celebrate Juneteenth with her through an evening that honors Black history, culture, and community in a way that reflects the incredible diversity and spirit of Queens.”

Admission is free; RSVP is recommended. For more information or to reserve your spot, visit https://www.flushingtownhall.org/show-details/juneteenth-storytelling-celebration-with-april-armstrong. Refreshments and food inspired by Juneteenth celebrations and traditions will be available for purchase.

About the Artist

April Armstrong is an award-winning storyteller, singer, and actress whose work breathes life into history through a blend of music and narrative. A 2024 AUDELCO Award winner for Best Actress in a Musical, Armstrong has spent recent years touring her acclaimed one-woman show, Two Wings to Heaven: The Bessie Coleman Story, a work that honors America’s first Black female aviator. Known for her high-energy performances, Armstrong has graced legendary stages from the Apollo Theater to the National Black Theatre Festival. She is a recipient of the National Storytellers Network’s 2020 J.J. Reneaux Emerging Artist award, and her debut CD, The Cat Came Back, earned a Parents' Choice Silver Award. Armstrong is also a teaching artist at Flushing Town Hall.