CELEBRATING FREEDOM
Juneteenth marks end of slavery in America
PROVIDENCE — Music flowed over spectators at Roger Williams Park on Sunday as dozens of community members gathered to celebrate Juneteenth — a holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.
“It means a lot on a personal level,” said Wanda McNeil, 49, of Providence, who sat in a lawn chair in the shade with her cousin, 50-year-old Ilena Williams. “My mom and dad were born in the South, Alabama, and even when they were born in 1943 and 1948, they were chased by dogs, they were sprayed by water hoses.”
Juneteenth, which is a commemoration of June 19, 1865, the day Union soldiers announced that the Civil War was over and slaves in Texas and other Confederate states must be freed, is an important moment in black history and American history, Williams said.
“Juneteenth means, to me, freedom,” she said. “It’s a meaning of coming together and celebrating that we are here and alive and free.”
Helen Baskerville Dukes, who organized the celebration on Sunday, said Providence had celebrated "Emancipation Day" in the past, but that this was the city’s first official Juneteenth celebration. Although the Emancipation Proclamation, the executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln declaring that slaves be freed, was signed in 1863, slavery continued in many states, so Juneteenth is more widely recognized as the end of slavery.
Baskerville Dukes said she wanted the day to be a celebration of family, camaraderie and the diversity of cultures within the African American community. The event included music performances, poetry readings and speeches by city politicians, as well as stands from local vendors, but next year she plans to also organize a parade and invite well-known headliners.
“As African Americans, or black people period, we impacted the entire world with our music and our dance, and we need to celebrate it,” she said. “Our culture matters.”
Onna Moniz-John, who operates a mobile black history museum in an RV with her family, said it’s important to keep educating young people about black history in America.
Sitting inside the RV, which was parked near the Temple to Music at Roger Williams Park, where the Juneteenth events were taking place, Moniz-John pointed out historical artifacts on display all over the museum on wheels. From a real set of shackles that were used on slaves to a Ruby Bridges doll signed by Bridges herself, the over 200 pieces that Moniz has collected over decades depict a rich history of struggle and strife but also of perseverance and immense achievement.
Moniz, who has taken the RV all over the country, said it felt good to have it parked at the Juneteenth celebration.
“It feels really good because it’s important,” she said. “That’s why I do this. To keep it going. To show people. They need to see it so they can understand the impact that this had on black people.”
Even after slavery was abolished and slaves were eventually freed, its negative effects could still be felt for generations, which is why it’s especially important for black culture to be celebrated, said Jay Lew, a 19-year-old hip-hop artist from Providence, who attended Sunday’s event.
“We’ve been damaged by slavery for years, we’re reliving that bad trauma,” he said. “We have generational trauma, why can’t we have generational celebration?”
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Celebrating Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a celebration of the end of slavery in the United States. It commemorates June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger, an officer with the Union Army during the Civil War, arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that the war was over and that all slaves must be freed. Though the Emancipation Proclamation, an executive order declaring that all slaves be freed, was issued by President Abraham Lincoln two and a half years prior to that date, slavery continued in some states. Juneteenth — a combination of “June” and “nineteenth” — is recognized as a state holiday in 45 states and in Washington, D.C.
“In America, July 4th is known as Independence Day,” said James Vincent, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Providence branch. “But for slaves, slaves weren’t free on July 4, 1776, so for us, our liberation came with Juneteenth.”