In a story steeped in pride for Black Texan culture, a struggling single mom hopes her daughter will repeat the success she once had as a beauty queen
This debut feature from Channing Godfrey Peoples is lit with pride for Black Texan culture: the BBQ, the beauty pageants, historic black colleges and Juneteenth itself. This is the annual 19 June holiday commemorating the day in 1865, when enslaved black people in
Texas were liberated, two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had outlawed slavery. Nicole Beharie (Shame, Little Fires Everywhere) stars as Miss Juneteenth 2004 – otherwise known as Turquoise “Turq” Jones. She is a single mother who scrimps every penny she earns working at the local bar and funeral home, in the hope that her 15-year-old daughter Kai (Alexis Chikaeze) will repeat her glory days at this year’s pageant. This is more than mere vanity: the new Miss Juneteenth will have her tuition fees paid at the historically black college of her choice.