“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”
-The Beginning of General Granger’s General Order Number 3
Why is it that African Americans celebrate The Fourth of July but not Juneteenth? Is it because The Fourth of July is the more known holiday? Is it because we get time off from work to celebrate? Is it because of lack of history of what Juneteenth means for our culture? Or is it a combination of all of the above?
On Saturday June 15, A Work of Faith Ministries hosted its first annual celebration of Juneteenth sponsored by The Forrest E. Powell Foundation at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston. The event was a success combined with music, food and most important of all: a discussion about the history that led us to Juneteenth and what we as a people must do to secure a better future for us and the next generation. The event included keynote speaker Baxter Swilley, presenter Fran Joy, presenter Hecky Powell and performers Tukkiman and Nyce Landry.
So what exactly is Juneteenth and why is this event so important? June 19, 1865 is known as the official day that slavery ended. On this day Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended in turn freeing the slaves. The news arrived a whole two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation meaning the slaves had actually been free all along, but didn’t know it.
So what caused the delay? There are several versions of why it took so long for Texas to become aware of the end of slavery. The first is that the messenger got murdered on his way to deliver the news. The second is that the information was withheld on purpose to keep work on the plantations. Another is that federal troops wanted to reap the benefit of the final cotton harvest.
“150,00 slaves were taken from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana into Texas so that they could continue to have their slaves,” Juneteenth historian Baxter Swilley says.
Even with the end of slavery the now free slaves still faced some difficult tasks. For starters they had to decide whether to stay and work for their former masters for wages, try to locate their family members or look for more accommodating circumstances altogether. Not to mention the fact that many slave owners didn’t want to let their slaves go. When the legally freed slaves tried to leave many owners beat, lynched and murdered them for doing so.
Exactly a year later, the freed slaves got together to commemorate the celebration of their freedom in what we now know as Juneteenth.
“The people who were directly impacted by slavery were able to directly enjoy the fruits of the proclamation that came from General Granger,” Juneteenth historian Swilley says.
However, the celebrations didn’t come without problems. Segregation laws left them without a public place or a park to use for the celebration until the former slaves chipped in on $800 to purchase 10 acres of land, which would be known as “Emancipation Park”. “Emancipation Park” was the first public park and swimming pool available to African Americans until the 1950s.
Eventually, the hype around the Juneteenth celebrations died down until Martin Luther King Jr. brought it back to the forefront by purposely coinciding the date of the Poor People’s March with Juneteenth.
Today, Juneteenth is widely recognized by barbecuing, prayer services and self-education. Certain foods have also become associated with the holiday, particularly those associated with the color red such as red velvet cake, red beans and rice and strawberry soda.
In 2015, Hecky’s Barbeque owner Hecky Powell created the Juneteenth Strawberry Soda to honor his paternal great grandfather who was born into slavery. All of the proceeds from the soda go to his foundation, The Forrest E. Powell foundation, inspired by his late father who taught him the importance of “family, community and spirituality.” The foundation helps provide scholarships for young men and women to go to trade school.
After learning about Juneteenth Powell decided that it was important for him to acknowledge the sacrifices his family made in his own way.
“I said to myself with this foundation if my grandfather and my great grandfather and my dad if they can do all that they’ve done without government assistance whatsoever, I should be able to do better than that because I’ve got all kinds of opportunities,” Powell adds. “So I had to do something by creating this foundation in the name of my father. And then I had to do something even more special because this foundation wasn’t going to be like any other foundation asking for government handouts. I refuse to do that because of their legacy, so I had to figure out how to create funds.”
At the end of the day, what Powell talks about (looking to the community for help) is why the celebration of Juneteenth is so important because it isn’t just to dwell in the sorrows of our past but to acknowledge the sacrifices our ancestors have made for us to be where we our as well as the resilience they showed and to use that to fuel us to do better and be better. Are we still enslaved? Some may say so, but together through our own education, foundations, celebrations, etc. we can grow, but that will only work if we come together to help one another out.
Plan to celebrate Juneteenth this year? Tell us how.
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