Monday, May 23, 2005
Freedom in Any Era Is Worth Celebrating
As a legacy of the forced servitude experienced by African Americans, historically, Emancipation Day is a celebration exclusive to them. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, in a Catch 22 situation and not wanting to alienate those slaveholding states that did not secede, issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Leading up to its passage, the Union army lost most of the early battles of the war. Therefore, the South had the upper hand. As the war progressed, there was a need for more manpower. After the Union army won the Battle of Antietam, one of the bloodiest scrimmages, as a strategy, Lincoln thought this was probably the best time to issue his Emancipation Proclamation. In effect, the Proclamation said that enslaved Africans in all states still in rebellion as of January 1, 1863, would be free. From that point, although considered contraband, thousands of African Americans flocked to the Union lines to help fight and to escape oppression. Finally, with General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865, General Order Number Three authorizing their freedom traveled very slowly. So it wasn't until sometime later that African American in the Deep South and Texas acquired the news. Tallahasseans received notice on May 20, 1865 when General Edward McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation from the steps of what is now the Knott House on College and Park Aves.
By the following year, Emancipation Day celebrations sprang up immediately to memorialize this auspicious occasion. However, the date the freedom decree was delivered differs throughout the South. In Texas, Juneteenth celebrations originated to commemorate the date on June 19, 1865 when enslaved Africans there received official notice of their freedom. Due to the longevity of this celebration in Texas, other African American communities have since embraced this date. Yet if you traversed Centerville Road on this past, Saturday May 22nd, you possibly observed the festivities or overheard a cacophony of sounds. Interestingly, without a break, African Americans here still celebrate the 20th of May, speaking to their greater need to immortalize the plantation experience of their ancestors. Warding off encroachment by upscale housing developments, an enclave of African American residents reside there and maintain a park, which comes alive to educate and to ensure no one forgets the past infamy of slavery or the jubilation its abolition produced.
Traditionally, the observance constituted a day of remembrance and reclamation.
Celebrants always assembled on the actual date and referred to the holiday as the “20th of May.” Even most of their white employers recognized the importance of the day and released them from work. In rural sectors, administrators closed school for the day; whereas, in Tallahassee proper, they cancelled school a half day. People amassed in droves in their local communities to picnic, play games, perform, and dance. The celebration amounted to a feast day and offered a far greater range of food than any other holiday in the year. In addition, most remember most the homemade lemonade served from fifty-gallon steel drums. Also, the division of labor placed the making of lemonade and cooking of meats and frying of fish within the male domain, with women supplying main dishes and desserts.
In keeping with tradition, this year, several hundred guests began to assemble around 1 p.m. under a tent to witness a program consisting of sacred music and the spoken word. All participants are descendants of Sarah Johnson Hill, who initiated this particular celebration along with Debbie Edwards in 1924. Vera Jefferson Branton presided over the program intended to mirror the activities from days gone by. Hunter Hill, Jr. narrated the “Occasion,” specifying the longevity of the event and the family’s rich history. His brother, Otis Hill, provided a rousing overview entitled “Why We Celebrate.” He emphasized the family’s pride of place, emphasizing the planning that long accompanied Emancipation Day from the earlier building of a stage to the use of lime and water decoratively to whitewash the tree bottom of tree trunks. The real glory pertained to digging a hole to set the maypoles. The plaiting of the maypole remains a family tradition. As in bygone days, young children and then young adults embraced the opportunity to reenact a British custom that African Americans in the region have made their own to the artistic beating of snare and bass drums.
As in the past, the main theme of the celebration remained education. It is customary for school age boys and girls to recite poetry appropriate to their age by Langston Hughes and others. To foster an interest in intellectual pursuit, for about three weeks before the celebration, all the children in the community used to go to Mama Sarah's house to obtain a speech. Otis Hill stressed how as a child he had “to practice, practice, practice.” When their ancestors gave them something to learn, they expected compliance. Over a dozen descendants of the sponsoring families, the Hill, Jefferson, Jenkins, and Williams, did not disappoint. They performed group songs such as “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand,” popularized by Mahalia Jackson. In conformity to past teachings, no detail seemed to be overlooked, except for the greasy pole, another European tradition local residents relished with their own twist. They would cut down a sweet gum tree and then take a knife and draw the bark off the tree. The tree would secrete resin that was very slippery and slimy. If you could climb to the top of the pole, you were the winner. According to family history, however, the man who brought the ham placed on top always took it back home. While lots of funs, no one could accomplish the deed.
Moreover, without charge or fanfare, the sponsors fed all in attendance and furnished entertainment performed by The Star Lite Rhythm and Blues Band. This Emancipation Day celebration continues to thrive strictly by word of mouth. For most guests, Emancipation Day remains as significant as Christmas or Easter. One does not have to be a direct descendant to benefit from sharing this glorious celebration of freedom, hope as well as continued spiritual and economic prosperity.
By the following year, Emancipation Day celebrations sprang up immediately to memorialize this auspicious occasion. However, the date the freedom decree was delivered differs throughout the South. In Texas, Juneteenth celebrations originated to commemorate the date on June 19, 1865 when enslaved Africans there received official notice of their freedom. Due to the longevity of this celebration in Texas, other African American communities have since embraced this date. Yet if you traversed Centerville Road on this past, Saturday May 22nd, you possibly observed the festivities or overheard a cacophony of sounds. Interestingly, without a break, African Americans here still celebrate the 20th of May, speaking to their greater need to immortalize the plantation experience of their ancestors. Warding off encroachment by upscale housing developments, an enclave of African American residents reside there and maintain a park, which comes alive to educate and to ensure no one forgets the past infamy of slavery or the jubilation its abolition produced.
Traditionally, the observance constituted a day of remembrance and reclamation.
Celebrants always assembled on the actual date and referred to the holiday as the “20th of May.” Even most of their white employers recognized the importance of the day and released them from work. In rural sectors, administrators closed school for the day; whereas, in Tallahassee proper, they cancelled school a half day. People amassed in droves in their local communities to picnic, play games, perform, and dance. The celebration amounted to a feast day and offered a far greater range of food than any other holiday in the year. In addition, most remember most the homemade lemonade served from fifty-gallon steel drums. Also, the division of labor placed the making of lemonade and cooking of meats and frying of fish within the male domain, with women supplying main dishes and desserts.
In keeping with tradition, this year, several hundred guests began to assemble around 1 p.m. under a tent to witness a program consisting of sacred music and the spoken word. All participants are descendants of Sarah Johnson Hill, who initiated this particular celebration along with Debbie Edwards in 1924. Vera Jefferson Branton presided over the program intended to mirror the activities from days gone by. Hunter Hill, Jr. narrated the “Occasion,” specifying the longevity of the event and the family’s rich history. His brother, Otis Hill, provided a rousing overview entitled “Why We Celebrate.” He emphasized the family’s pride of place, emphasizing the planning that long accompanied Emancipation Day from the earlier building of a stage to the use of lime and water decoratively to whitewash the tree bottom of tree trunks. The real glory pertained to digging a hole to set the maypoles. The plaiting of the maypole remains a family tradition. As in bygone days, young children and then young adults embraced the opportunity to reenact a British custom that African Americans in the region have made their own to the artistic beating of snare and bass drums.
As in the past, the main theme of the celebration remained education. It is customary for school age boys and girls to recite poetry appropriate to their age by Langston Hughes and others. To foster an interest in intellectual pursuit, for about three weeks before the celebration, all the children in the community used to go to Mama Sarah's house to obtain a speech. Otis Hill stressed how as a child he had “to practice, practice, practice.” When their ancestors gave them something to learn, they expected compliance. Over a dozen descendants of the sponsoring families, the Hill, Jefferson, Jenkins, and Williams, did not disappoint. They performed group songs such as “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand,” popularized by Mahalia Jackson. In conformity to past teachings, no detail seemed to be overlooked, except for the greasy pole, another European tradition local residents relished with their own twist. They would cut down a sweet gum tree and then take a knife and draw the bark off the tree. The tree would secrete resin that was very slippery and slimy. If you could climb to the top of the pole, you were the winner. According to family history, however, the man who brought the ham placed on top always took it back home. While lots of funs, no one could accomplish the deed.
Moreover, without charge or fanfare, the sponsors fed all in attendance and furnished entertainment performed by The Star Lite Rhythm and Blues Band. This Emancipation Day celebration continues to thrive strictly by word of mouth. For most guests, Emancipation Day remains as significant as Christmas or Easter. One does not have to be a direct descendant to benefit from sharing this glorious celebration of freedom, hope as well as continued spiritual and economic prosperity.
# posted by Power2People @ 6:41 PM 
