Let Freedom Ring
From Juneteenth to July Fourth, there has been and will continue to be a lot of freedom celebrating over the course of three weeks.
Juneteenth, June 19. 1865, marks the day that American slaves were granted freedom from their plantation life. It became a national holiday just three years ago. But make no mistake it has been celebrated long before it was ever recognized nationally.
The common history we all learned in school was about America earning its independence from England on July 4, 1776. Colonization and slavery entered into the picture. When Abraham Lincoln became president he declared the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, which promised freedom to enslaved people in all of the rebellious parts of the southern states of the confederacy including Texas.
The proclamation was to go into effect January 1, 1863. Texas was important because it was the most remote state of the former Confederacy and had seen an expansion of slavery because the presence of Union troops was low as the Civil War ended.
The Emancipation Proclamation is the precursor to Juneteenth and I remember as a child honoring it at church. Attending church in Shady Dale, the reading of the freedom document each year would alternate churches, if I recall correctly. One year at Mt. Zion A.M.E, my home church, and the next year at Greenwood Baptist. It was usually on a Saturday I believe, as to not interfere with regular church service.
As a young child, I didn’t have much say as to whether I was attending, it was a given with my parents. When I got older and had a busier schedule, I was given the option to attend or not, but was always reminded by my mother of what it represented before I made a decision.
The enforcement of Lincoln’s Proclamation was slow and inconsistent. It was on June 19, 1865, 900 days after the proclamation was to go into effect, that freedom came for the enslaved. That was 71 days after Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union and 24 days after the disbandment of the Confederate department covering Texas.
Juneteenth wasn’t really taught in my high school curriculum, it may have been listed in the reading but I don’t recall it being discussed. However, when I got to college I learned about the now federal holiday, Marcus Garvey, Fannie Lou Hamer, and so many more not listed in 80s textbooks.
This past week, Robyn and I ventured out to some Juneteenth events. Last year, we attended the Juneteenth celebration in Covington featuring the parade and social event. This year we headed to the Rockdale celebration for a few hours in Olde Town Conyers. It was small but lively in its first gathering of such. We had some great Italian ice treats.
On Saturday we journeyed to the vast Atlanta celebration that transpired over three days mostly in Piedmont Park. We’re no strangers to that park or our favorite Beltline entry point at Ponce City Market. So we ventured up, parked at Ponce where we grabbed some lunch and ran into Atlanta meteorologist Brian Monahan grabbing his too.
Then we footed it to Piedmont Park where we walked vendors row for nearly three hours seeing all the art, apparel, jewelry, and food offered. As Robyn said, we definitely got our steps in. And we’ll definitely head back next year.
I would have loved to head back Sunday but I needed that time to prepare for this week’s adventures with Robyn at the CDC for disease camp and Jacob in Orlando for robotics nationals.
After this week, we’ll gear up for some Fourth of July activities next week with entertainment and fireworks at the Red, White & Boom event in Olde Town Conyers on Wednesday and will probably keep it close to home for the Fourth with the Covington show.