GARRY MOORE

BY GARRY MOORE

In many cities throughout the country, African Americans will observe Juneteenth–the name given to a unique American occurrence that marked the end of slavery in Texas. It’s also referred to as Black Independence Day (an alternative to the Fourth of July). Legend has it that the enslaved people in Galveston were unaware of their emancipation until Union General Gordon Granger rode up on the plantation on which they worked and gave them the good news.

This was June 19, 1865; two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The proclamation warrants a deeper dive, because it did not mean automatic freedom for enslaved Blacks. Specifically, it demanded that the Confederate states return to the Union or their slaves would be permanently freed. It also did not affect slave-holding states that didn’t secede from the Union. No surprise that it was not heeded by the Confederate states. Still, when the good general informed the folks on that plantation in Galveston, not surprisingly, they broke out in song and dance and praise. I’m sure that in the midst of that celebration, some expressed angst that their Ol’ Massa had kept them in the dark for so long. The fact that slavery is a standout red thread that is woven into this country’s fabric makes Juneteenth a peculiar strand of Americana. All that cotton our ancestors picked, the swamps they cleared, the houses they built, the roads they paved, the white babies they nursed, the sexual assault they endured, the lynchings, the injustice that lasted for hundreds of years . . . it all speaks to the need for us to be thoughtful in how we term the “holiday.”

It’s not uncommon for modern day folk to term Juneteenth events as “celebrations.” During these events, little is mentioned about the genesis of the holiday, and the emphasis is put on the party. We certainly deserve a party, but a party for party sake can leave us empty and we can become unwitting agents of the original deception. As Kool and the Gang plays in the background (…”celebrate good times, c’mon…”), kids hoola hoop, grown folks taunt each other at the bid whist table, and Uncle Dave keeps his brown paper bag close by his side, we must be mindful of the fly in the potato salad.

I’m not too hung up on the word “celebration,” but I prefer the term “commemoration.” The latter pulls us into a thoughtful place, it necessitates a gathering (before, during or after the party) where someone talks about the fact that “freedom” was not something the white man (Lincoln or Massa) gave us. Freedom should have been a birthright. That someone could also talk about the scope of slavery in this country (read from Randall Robinson’s “The Debt –– What America Owes Blacks”), and certainly talk about American hypocrisy –– these puffed up ideals of freedom and equality needing to be reconciled with the evil institution of slavery. Slavery could not endure the yearning of Black people to exercise their birthright, especially in a country that boasted “all men are created equal.” It was a matter of time before the Turner, Vessey, Brown and other revolts would evolve into a Civil War and this country would be forced to restore in legal terms that which the founding fathers called an inalienable right. Yes, those first folk in Texas had reason to sing and dance and drink from the brown bag –– and we do too. But I maintain that we are doing more than “celebrating” –– we are calling out the discovery of deception. We are commemorating one of the first “stay woke” lessons.

As Ayi Kwei Armah writes in “Two Thousand Seasons,” “Creation calls the utterer to reach again the larger circle. That communication must be the beginning of destruction’s destruction, the preparation for creation’s work. That, not an incestuous, unproductive, parasitic gathering, is our vocation…We will not betray this remembrance…”

Now, pass the potato salad! The name of the game is Bid! And you kids, stay away from that brown bag.

Garry Moore is a cultural arts presenter, retired broadcast journalist, and operations/programming manager for WPNV 106.3FM.