In celebration of Juneteenth we make some notes of its celebration in Florida and provide some poems on its themes.
Juneteenth officially commemorates the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865. Col. Gordon Granger, commander of the IV Corps of the Army of the Cumberland, was put in charge of the District of Texas at the war’s end. One of his first acts was to read out General Order No. 3, which officially ended slavery in Texas.
The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection therefore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer.
This was the first enforcement in Texas of the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 but not enacted in the South until the end of the Civil War. The former enslaved of Texas, now citizens, marked down the date for celebration and in 1866 commemorated the first anniversary of its reading. This tradition was replicated in other states, creating a 160-year legacy for honoring Juneteenth as a national day in appreciation for freedom, Black culture, and the fulfillment of the American promise that everyone is free and equal under law. Juneteenth is also traditionally a day for remembering ancestors, learning about the struggle of Black Americans to secure and protect their rights, and giving back to the community. On June 17, 2021 President Joe Biden made Juneteenth an official federal holiday.
Although Juneteenth has its roots in Texas, other traditions similar to Juneteenth have also been celebrated. In Florida, the end of slavery was proclaimed in Tallahassee on May 20, 1865, about a month before Texas. Major General Edward McCook gathered people from plantations in Leon County and, standing outside his headquarters, read out, not a general order, but the full Emancipation Proclamation. This marked the beginning of what became known as Emancipation Proclamation or Emancipation Day, celebrated the following year in Tallahassee and continuing to the present day. Both Emancipation Day and Juneteenth have traditionally included parades, festivals, and public speeches.
An excerpt from the Emancipation Proclamation:
I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free; and that the Executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
Poems about Freedom
Langston Hughes (1902-1967), poet and playwright, came to epitomize the Harlem Renaissance with poems that challenged prejudice and racism and offered commentary on contemporary life. He grew up under Jim Crow and lived to see the opening waves of the Civil Rights Movement. One of the most popular writers of his day, he championed bringing Black voice and consciousness into American literature.
Freedom (1943)
Freedom will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
*
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my own two feet
And own the land.
*
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
*
Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.
*
I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.
Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000), a Chicago-based poet, was once described as “a born poet” by the writer and novelist Alice Walker. Her imagery tends to be earthy and urban, and often has a sharp and slightly sarcastic humor. Influenced in her early writing by poets of the Harlem Renaissance, in the 1960s she developed her own voice and became a voice for Black feminism.
From – To the Diaspora (1968)
you did not know you were Afrika
When you set out for Afrika
You did not know you were going
Because
You did not know you were Afrika.
You did not know the Black continent
That had to be reached
Was you.
Kristina Kay Robinson, poet and visual artist, is a powerful contemporary voice in literature. Her writing frequently focuses on New Orleans, her native city, and the challenges facing women of color. She is the 2018 recipient of Tulane University’s Center for the Gulf South’s Monroe Fellowship. Robinson was nine years old when she wrote the poem below, often read on Juneteenth.
We Rose (1996)
From Africa’s heart, we rose
Already a people, our faces ebon, our bodies lean,
We rose
Skills of art, life, beauty and family
Crushed by forces we knew nothing of, we rose
Survive we must, we did,
We rose
We rose to be you, we rose to be me,
Above everything expected, we rose
To become the knowledge we never knew,
We rose
Dream, we did
Act, we must