Black America did what it has done on June 19th since 1865. We celebrated our liberation.
Our freedom is not unconditional – hence the nonstop protests underway across the nation for nearly three weeks motivated by the police killing of George Floyd. But still, it is a freedom that our ancestors were unable experience for nearly 250 years. Four centuries ago, enslaved Africans were shipped here as looted property. They were terrorized into submission and systemically dehumanized for the sake of American economy building until halfway through Civil War – a war initiated to ensure that Black people remained in bondage.
Juneteenth 2020 had a different energy because of unprecedented attention on the African American tradition considering the current racial climate. Allies that have been boldly proclaiming that Black lives matter. Their doing so helped amplify the message that our people have been expressing collectively since long before the Emancipation Proclamation – and General Granger’s arrival at Galveston two years later that we have commemorated annually for generations. Black lives matter, and so does black freedom.
“On Juneteenth, we celebrate our resilience,” said Montague Simmons as he addressed the crowd at The People’s Rally Friday morning outside St. John’s UCC Church. “It is that will and our ability to build impactful movements of resistance that give shape to what it means to be black, to be powerful and to be free – unapologetically.”
The rally was the first of more than a dozen events related to Juneteenth that took place across the St. Louis region. Celebration of black freedom was front and center on Friday.
In front of City Hall, hundreds joined the Expect Us protest collective for a Juneteenth celebration spearheaded by Ohun Ashe. In similar design to the “Black Lives Matter” art that has popped up on major city streets across the nation “REPARATIONS” was painted in bold yellow was painted along Tucker large enough to see from any window within the building. The message was the same, but the mood was much lighter than usual.
The fun and fellowship resembled a summer backyard barbecue with cookout jams blasting in the background. Demonstrators kept signs that read “White Silence is Violence” and “Black Lives Matter” visible as they made Tucker their personal dancefloor. There were flash mob sized masses performing the “Cupid Shuffle” and “Wobble” line dances. Music blasted from a motorcycle – which served as the sound system for their street party until the speakers and equipment arrived.
Ashe is usually on the frontline of protest projecting her naturally soft voice through a megaphone with loud and serious chants decrying police brutality against black people. But for Juneteenth, she made her black girl joy visible for all to see.
In a black t-shirt that read “Y’all Gone Stop Killing Us,” Ashe participated in a stroll with her Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters that ties in their signature steps with the dance combinations of “The Wobble.”
Smiling from ear to ear, she flexed for her sorors – pressing her thumb and index fingers together to create the two-hand triangle that represents for Delta.
“I gotta enjoy the moment with my people – this is just a moment for us,” Ashe said. “Black people I need you to enjoy today – you deserve to enjoy today.”
After they rallied for change and expressed their demands, members of the cohort group at St. John’s went to the Southside to party. On the street adjacent from the Blank Space event venue on Cherokee in South City, the group danced and partied almost until the sun went down in the name of their ancestors. A group electric slide and liberation music from the likes of Bob Marley and others expressed the mood of the gathering.
“Africa unite,” a man sang at the top of his voice in a concerted effort to match the decibels of Marley’s voice as it blasted through the speakers.
“Get into the Juneteenth vibe,” a woman said to her friend as she grooved to the music while observing the handful of vendors that were set up to Nebraska Street.
In U. City, the Juneteenth event was serious in tone. Speakers cited that while they are unequivocally against the police violence suffered by African Americans, police brutality is but a symptom of the systemic racism that has blockaded the path towards the American dream for black people from 1619 to now.
“Our memories are long,” Simmons said Friday morning. “We’ve known moments of profound victories – and also moments of grave loss. There is honor in remembering and not allowing this nation to forget its debt to Black people.”
He was quoting a passage from an open letter from Movement For Black Lives National Field Director Karissa Lewis to Black people that appeared on ESSENCE.com in commemoration of Juneteenth.
“Today, on this 155th anniversary of that first Juneteenth we celebrate our resilience, our unrelenting dedication to Black people, to our own freedom and to each and every victory in the face of constant violence,” Simmons said, quoting Lewis. “Our memory is long, but we will always remember and honor our ancestors.”
