We joyously celebrated Juneteenth with a Freedom Day Service in Federal Park with a lively celebration picnic afterward. If you were not able to come, enjoy the day through the video, and if you were there, relive some of your favorite moments.
Trumpets led us in “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and Tim Willson sang “Ride Up in the Chariot.” After the liturgist read Psalm 78:1-11, Pastor Harry engaged the congregation in his message, “That the Next Generation Might Know,” asking about the power of the stories we tell.
The picnic that followed featured:
- A line dancing class by dancer/choreographer Deollo Johnson sponsored by Santa Fe Soul Festival. He was introduced by SFSF board president Madeleine Wright.
- An invitation to join with Zimbabwean Marimba for All master teacher Karyna Swing to celebrate this ancestral African music. She was introduced by Elise Packard, a member of the band.
The video of the service and celebration are below:
History Note
Although the Emancipation Proclamation took effect on January 1, 1863,
…”not everyone in Confederate territory would immediately be free. Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control. As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until much later. Freedom finally came on June 19, 1865, when some 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas. The army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as “Juneteenth,” by the newly freed people in Texas.
The post-emancipation period known as Reconstruction (1865-1877) marked an era of great hope, uncertainty, and struggle for the nation as a whole. Formerly enslaved people immediately sought to reunify families, establish schools, run for political office, push radical legislation and even sue slaveholders for compensation. Given the 200+ years of enslavement, such changes were nothing short of amazing. Not even a generation out of slavery, African Americans were inspired and empowered to transform their lives and their country.
Juneteenth marks our country’s second independence day.” (From The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.)