As St. Louis celebrates the new year, a local organization is working to educate people of the significance Jan. 1 holds for African Americans.
“I think it has some kind of contemporary resonance, as most people don’t realize that declaration didn’t actually really free anybody,” Reynaldo Anderson said.
Jubilee Day is Independence Day for African Americans. It commemorates Jan. 1, 1863, the day President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, the document that led to the passage of the 13th Amendment, freeing all enslaved people in the north and south Dec. 6, 1865.
“I think it has some kind of contemporary resonance, as most people don’t realize that declaration didn’t actually really free anybody because it only dealt with people that were in the Confederate states, not the ones in the north,” Reynaldo Anderson told The St. Louis American. “And so, that’s an example of why that day is more important to reflect on, how it then resonates with some of the things going on now around this idea of critical race theory and voting rights.”
Anderson holds a doctorate of philosophy in communication studies and said the proclamation can be looked at as a political move by Lincoln to damage the Confederacy’s economy by disrupting their free labor force. Eventually, Lincoln also relented and allowed Black soldiers into the army, bolstering the north’s troops by 200,000 and turned the tides of the Civil War.
Anderson is a former associate professor of communication and chair of the humanities department at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis and recently became the graduate director and associate professor of Africology and African American studies at Temple University in Philadelphia.
He is set to be honored Saturday at a Jubilee Day Luncheon put on by Africans Rising Together 2063 (ART 2063). Ollie Stewart, founder and executive director of Southside Wellness Center, will also receive special recognition for dedicating nearly 50 years of her life as an activist to improve St. Louis residents’ social, economic, and political conditions.
ART 2063 is a nonprofit organization aiming to educate people of African descent concerning the true historical significance of their experience, culture and contributions to the world.
“[Anderson] is a scholar, and he’s a professional who continues to work for the struggle to make things better in this world,” James Tucker said. “Not just the United States but the world, he’s recognized internationally, too.”
Tucker serves as the president of the international board of directors for and told The St. Louis American this is a part of history not taught in schools or known more broadly in the community. That’s why the organization is hosting a luncheon for residents to learn about the history of the country often left out of textbooks and lesson plans.
Anderson agreed, noting the last several generations in America weren’t really taught civics, and they don’t necessarily understand the Bill of Rights.
He said when he reflects on the reason for the luncheon, he recalls his memories of the Ferguson uprising a few years ago.
“I remember Mike Brown’s uncle being in my class that August, when a lot of this stuff was happening, and a lot of my students participated in that protest, and I participated with them on occasion,” he said. “… The generation that started the protests in 2014, they don’t understand very basic things related to the law sometimes—and history. And so that’s where I think some of that spirit around this stuff really resonates in terms of the need to really reassess American history.”
Tucker says while there is a need for the public to develop a deeper understanding of this history, he feels optimistic for the future of St. Louis with its first Black female mayor, Tishaura Jones. She’s appointed a record number of Black people to leadership positions.
“These days, or the observation of these days, just remind us of the importance of our political empowerment and how it is tied into the Constitution, and its flaws sometimes, and why this is one of those things … required for continued vigilance around those forces and society that would want to take away or harm our ability to participate in it,” Anderson said.
The luncheon will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 1 at 5015 Westminster Place in St. Louis. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased online at https://bit.ly/3pAxaZX.
