Juneteenth
On the 19th of June in 1865, in Galveston, Texas, the abolition of slavery was announced, and since then the date has been celebrated both within and outside the United States.
Actually, the Emancipation proclamation was issued on January 1st in 1863, but it took several years for the southern slaves to gain formal freedom (freedom in practice came much later). Similarly, Juneteenth was for a long time seen as an informal holiday, of interest only for blacks. As late as 2004, a New York Times article commenting on the spread of its popularity refers to Juneteenth as “an obscure Texas celebration”. An explanation for its limited popularity is also the fact that many states celebrate their own Emancipation Days, when slavery was abolished in that particular state. Also, the former British empire has its own memorial date on August 1st, 1834, which is celebrated according to local traditions all over the Commonwealth.
I encountered Juneteenth and Emancipation Day traditions first through the distorted lens of historical sheet music covers. The bold graphics advertising so-called “coon songs” and ragtime tunes often featured caricatured black people celebrating “Emancipation day”. Of course, these pictures were made by white artists for a white audience, referring to stereotypes rather than actual African-American culture. Some of them contain references to actual events, though - and some songs were written by African-Americans, though one might discuss whether the main target audience was black or white. The old-fashioned use of AA dialects might seem artificial and even offensive to modern eyes and ears, but the two songs listed below were made with good intentions by
On Emancipation Day by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, AA poet (1902)
Babylon is fallen! By Henry Clay Work, abolitionist and song writer (1863)
Returning to the opening image, the cover of Ralph Ellison’s posthumous novel (2 000 pages were found after his death in 1994, and the edited result amounts to almost 400 pages; after his 1952 success Invisible Man, I suppose he was beset with perfectionism, that scourge of the artist…). I’m a bibliophile and sometimes love the background stories of the books more than the actual narrative. The introduction whets the appetite, though: “Juneteenth draws from uniquely African American (and American) tributaries: sermons, folktales, the blues … the swing and velocity of jazz.”
But now for something completely different. Jailbreak out of History - a re-biography of Harriet Tubman - is a powerful read from a militant feminist perspective, describing the methods historians and other writers in privileged positions have used to make potentially dangerous and rebellious people, potential role models to oppressed groups, seem harmless. Harriet Tubman fought a hard battle for the freedom of the slaves, and the point of Butch Lee’s book is to show that she was neither an exceptional, mythical figure (i.e. what she did was no miracle, but a possible form of resistance) nor a meek and harmless, non-political character. Those who are allergic to “militant feminists” who spell America with 3 k’s, read this text at their own peril.
June 30th, 2007 at 3:55 am
Thank you for sharing. Although my mother knew of June 19th, I honestly did not “get it” until I was in college. I was never taught the history around June 19 growing up in school but fortunately my mother started sharing with me the significance of the day.
When I would go to church regularly with my family in the late 1980s, the pastor did talk about it but not that much.
This year there was some violence around some celebrations of June 19. I think this was in Detroit. Don’t quote me. I have been trying to find some links but it was on the local news stations here.
Thank you for the education!