Juneteenth celebrations honor liberation

By Zoe Sullivan
The Louisiana Weekly

Juneteenth is the celebration of June 19th, 1865 when slavery was abolished in Texas. The day is recognized in 37 U.S. States, and here in New Orleans, festivities are being planned that not only acknowledge the liberation achieved in the past, but also the struggles that affect African Americans today. Several groups will be hosting events over the weekend to acknowledge the anniversary.

John Mosley, Sr., founder of the African-American Male and Female Institute, has been running June­teenth festivities for 21 years. This year the line-up kicked off with a press conference at City Hall on Friday morning. Later in the day, The Craig Cultural Center in Algiers is hosted a documentary screening, “The Untold Truth: 20th Century Slavery” as well as musical performances in the evening by Ras Chemash (the singing chef), and Heatindex Band, among others.

On Saturday morning, the New Orleans African-American Museum sponsored a second line that will culminate at the museum in the Tremé. The day’s events are the result of a collaboration between the Museum, the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, the Louisiana Museum of African-American History, and St. Augustine Church.

Bridget Johnson, the Museum’s Deputy Director, explained how the event would have two elements. “We’re celebrating June­teenth, but we are also focusing on the 200th anniversary of the 1811 slave revolt.” The 1811 revolt was the largest uprising by enslaved Africans in the history of the United States, yet it is often overlooked in history textbooks. “For the most part we want to educate the public about the slave revolt,” Johnson told The Louisiana Weekly. “It’s a part of our history that actually happened, and I didn’t learn about this until I was an adult. I didn’t learn about this in formal education.”

Panelists, included Leon Waters, Cathy Smith, Freddie Evans, Kalamu Ya Salaam, and Keith Medley, discussed the revolt and its significance to a history of resistance that continues to the present day. A youth discussion group scheduled for the afternoon gave participants a chance to talk about history and its relevance to current struggles. A.P. Tureaud will also be on hand to sign copies of his book, “A Nobel Cause.” Mosley’s work in the community will also be acknowledged by the Museum.

On Sunday, between 3 and 6pm, the African-American Male and Female Institute joined with Save A Father, Save A Child for a Father’s Day/Juneteenth event in the Lower 9th Ward at 5500 St. Claude Avenue. Mosley spoke with The Louisiana Weekly and expressed his hopes for the weekend’s line-up. “Number one is that we hope people come out and celebrate that we are no longer in slavery with the understanding that we are not in slavery in terms of the chains and shackles that once [bound] us, but in spite of the splitting of those metal objects, we still have a long way to go ‘cause we’re still not treated on an equal level as white people in this country.”

J.C. Joseph, one of the organizers of the Save A Father event, concurred that the holiday is much more than a greeting card occasion. “It’s good to have a piece of chicken on father’s day and celebrate it, but we want it to be so much beyond that.”

“The whole idea is that some of the polices in our child welfare system agencies sometimes have an adverse affect on encouraging young men to even be a decent father, especially when they’re not working… So we have to focus on some of these adverse policies.”

Joseph said that his group was partnering with several houses of worship and social justice groups that focus on the impact of incarceration on families. Asked whether the event was directed at residents of the Lower 9th Ward, he responded: “Things that happen in the Lower 9th affect us throughout New Orleans. We are still experiencing the radioactivity of any social ills that are spreading throughout our community. It’s not limited to the Lower 9th. [We’re] just focusing there because there are no fathers’ programs there on Father’s Day.”

This article originally published in the June 20, 2011 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.