My Turtle Tracks over the past year or more have been confined not only to around Roanoke, but to the tiny strip up and down Melrose Avenue and immediate surrounding areas. But there are so many exciting events being brought back to the area, confirming the inestimable (past, present and future) unifying effect of the Henry Street strip and its immediate surroundings upon this valley. The most recent example has been the accelerated celebration of Juneteenth within the city.
This year one of the largest observances was held June 14 in McCadden Park in conjunction with Roanoke Indivisible, several major sponsors, and more than double the amount of participants in attendance. Roanoke Indivisible held a “No Kings” rally aka a National Day of Defiance prior to the Juneteenth celebration at the same park. Both celebrations at McCadden Park attracted several hundred people that came together for food, entertainment, togetherness and solidarity.
It was 160 years ago that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they had been freed – after the Civil War’s end and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
The resulting Juneteenth holiday – it’s name combining “June” and “nineteenth” – has only grown in one-and-a-half centuries. In 2021, President Joe Biden designated it a federal holiday – expanding its recognition beyond Black America.
Many people anticipate getting off work for the holiday. There are a plethora of street festivals, fairs, concerts and other events planned throughout the week leading into the holiday. But with the current political climate, some may wonder if their company will honor it.
Juneteenth festivities are rooted in cookouts and picnics. Originally celebrated as Black Americans’ true Independence Day, outdoor events allowed for large, raucous reunions among formerly enslaved family, many of whom had been separated. The gatherings were especially revolutionary because they were free of restrictive measures, known as “Black Codes,” enforced in Confederate states. Codes controlled whether liberated slaves could vote, purchase property, gather for worship and other aspects of daily life.
The Juneteenth flag created in 1997 by activist Ben Haith, who founded the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation, is similar to the American flag; it is red, white and blue to indicate those freed are also Americans. The five-point white star in the middle is a tribute to Juneteenth’s birthplace of Texas. It is encircled by another white starry line that represents the spreading of freedom.
The continued need for freedom of opportunity and human dignity across America is an underlying quest. The event brought together people from all walks of life coming together in a welcoming place to celebrate. The Electoral Unit for Baha’i Conventions held throughout the nation documents each annual report as becoming more exciting, reassuring and applicable to the times while redefining the inextricable role of the Baha’is in the reformation and building of a unified world society based on the twin principles of “justice” and “love.”
Investigate!
