Saturday is Juneteeth. It's the anniversary of the day on June 19, 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Texas, the last Confederate state in the west, to announce that 250,000 enslaved people were free. That's two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.

To celebrate, our sister station WQXR is holding a 24-hour marathon of composers and performers of African descent.

WNYC's Kerry Nolan spoke with WQXR's Terrance McKnight. To hear the full conversation, click listen.