Cultural event recognizes end of American slavery

Drums, dance and audience participation in the celebratory performance of Jonkonnu revelers from Tryon Palace set the theme for the fourth annual Juneteenth event at the Kinston-Lenoir County Public Library.

Saturday’s celebration sought to recognize the final release of slaves in the Texas holdout of Galveston on June 18 and 19, 1865, and rejoicing in the cultural heritage of the African diaspora in America.

“This is a celebration that I hope will continuously go on, and go on, and go on,” librarian Antuan Hawkins said.

Hawkins recounted the effective date of the Emancipation Proclamation, on Jan. 1, 1863, and when word finally reached Texas.

On June 18, 1865, Union Gen. Gordon Granger seized Galveston with his troops, and announced the slaves’ freedom the following day.

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free,” Granger read from the balcony of the town’s Ashton Villa. “This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”

Hawkins said the celebrations began there.

“When they were freed, they danced, they sang, they did whatever form of praise that they could,” Hawkins said. “So as a result, this celebration happens every year and has kind of spread out across the United States.”

The event at the library featured more than a dozen performances, ranging from singing and dancing to spoken word, and a donation of books by Kinston Promise Neighborhood.

Celebration of Juneteenth really took off in Texas on June 19, 1866, and in the following years former slaves pooled resources to buy land for the event, including spaces named Emancipation Park in Austin and Houston, according to the Texas State Library and Archives.

With a rediscovery of the holiday in the 1970s, 42 states including North Carolina now recognize Juneteenth in some sort of official capacity.

Wes Wolfe can be reached at 252-559-1075 and Wes.Wolfe@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter @WolfeReports.