Joyful Juneteenth Celebration: 'This Is Our 4th Of July'

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — It was a joyful celebration of Juneteenth in Southampton Village Friday; the event was organized in Agawam Park to mark June 19, the day when the enslaved were emancipated in Galveston, TX.

Camryn Highsmith, who served as the emcee of the event, spoke about why Juneteenth is so meaningful. "This is the first celebration of Juneteenth that we've had in the Village of Southampton. We're here to both educate and celebrate black lives. We're here to celebrate everything we've accomplished."

Lawrence Street of the NAACP's eastern Long Island branch, said: "This is our Fourth of July — 155 years after, this is our day of freedom."

On Friday, June 19, as the nation celebrated Juneteenth — the day that the enslaved were emancipated in 1865, two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 — Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared that state employees could take the day as holiday. He also signed an executive order Tuesday stating that beginning in 2021, Juneteenth will be an official state holiday.

According to Juneteenth.com, Juneteenth is the "oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States."

In 1865, it was on June 19 that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, TX "with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free."

The Emancipation Proclamation, the post added, had, before that date, not been recognized by residents of Texas due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce Lincoln's mandate.

Juneteenth holds deep meaning for many during a time when protesters have rallied nationwide following the death of George Floyd, who pleaded that he couldn't breathe and cried out for his mother as a police officer pressed a knee to his neck.

Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren thanked the religious and community leaders, as well as others, who had turned out to educate about the importance of the day. He also announced that the Southampton Village board had passed a resolution to make Juneteenth a Southampton Village holiday, as well. Warren then read the proclamation.

Southampton Coach Richard "Juni" Wingfield asked the young students in attendance to stand "I want you to know that it's young people like yourselves who were in front of the civil rights movement — and they transformed the world," he said. "I see you all heading there and my heart is so full. Stand strong and stand courageous. And we'll give you every single ounce of support that we can."

Rev. Sarah Bigwood of the First Presbyterian Church of Southampton led the group in prayer.

Pastor Leslie Duroseau of the Hamptons United Methodist Church asked the crowd to give God praise, thanks and honor. "We have gained our freedom in many ways and we understand that but we still have a long way to go," she said.

She spoke of the West African term "sankofa," that means, she said, "to go back and remember the knowledge and everything that was obtained, and bring it forward into our present and into our future. I believe the best way we can do that is what we are doing now. Coming together, but honoring our ancestors. We have to pay homage to our ancestors."

Duroseau asked the crowd to take a posture of prayer and then, spend a moment thinking about what it might have felt like, "to have to be told, 'you are now free'. That you are no longer being held in bondage."

Honoring ancestors is critically important, she added. "The best way we can honor them is to continue to share their stories," she said. "To keep the fight going. The best way we can honor them is to love one another."

Those who attended the event were given boxed lunches containing fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, cornbread, collard greens and desserts, symbolizing the meal that was used to celebrate "the formerly enslaved," Highsmith said. "Just as we want to educate you, we also want you to embrace our culture."

The goal, she said, was for those who had gathered to learn not just about the struggles African Americans have endured, but also, about traditions, including food, music and dance, that they have long cherished.

Tanisha Highsmith, Camryn's mother, also led guests in "Lift Every Voice and Sing."

The event also featured music by Teddy Turpin and dance by Elaine Booker.

Trevon Jenkins, one of the founders of the Long Island United Youth group, spoke about the grassroots organization; the goal, he said, it to create a not-for-profit. LIUY, he said, was founded to generate involvement among people of all ages.

It is not just youth that need to be educated, he said. "We have to teach the people older than us who are ignorant to a lot of things. Ignorance does not mean you are a bad person or senseless. It just means you are not educated. We need to start educating everyone, no matter their age, no matter their race," he said.

The goal of LIUY — the group also organized a peaceful rally in Agawam Park Friday evening — is to put words into action. "We are not just saying we are going to make change," he said. "We are actually going to start making the change."

Street spoke to the crowd, asking them to think about the fact that President Donald Trump wanted to hold a rally on Juneteenth, in Tulsa, OK, where the "Black Wall Street" massacre took place.

"The struggle is not over," Street said. "There is still a cover, a shadow of racism that still exists. There are still killings. When you hear about boys being hung and lynched, what does that tell you?"

Street also said he wanted to celebrate black women. "They are the most abused, unprotected, and disrespected, but they were the backbone of our family and struggle, and kept us together. Black women, you rock!"

Street added that there is a push to make Juneteenth a national holiday. "Whatever America gives us —because they take so much away — is one step closer to justice, one step closer to equality, one step closer to true freedom," he said. "We still have a long way to go. But we had a weapon from the shores of Africa till we got to this land, and right to today. And that was God. He has carried us from there to now."

Dorothy Dennis, 89, also spoke: "When I graduated, I was not allowed to go in a hotel in Washington, DC. I did not think i would live to see a black president. I'm thankful that I lived that long."

She spoke of her experience with racism on the East End: "One of my sons had worked hard to buy a new bicycle and the police saw him on the street riding it and they arrested him. They said, 'Nobody from Shinnecock could afford a new bicycle.' I went up there and was able to prove he had worked for that new bicycle." She added: "I am so thankful that the people are still fighting for freedom."

Pastor Tisha Williams the First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton also spoke. "This is truly our independence day and I'm grateful," she said, reading a theological statement from a collective of interdenominational black pastors and black theologians from the black churches, for Juneteenth. "We lift our voices to emphatically repudiate the evil beast of white racism, white supremacy, white superiority, and its concomitant, abiding anti-black violence."

Cuomo spoke about Juneteenth and why he'd moved for legislation to mark the day as a holiday.

"Friday is Juneteenth — a day to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States — and it's a day that is especially relevant in this moment in history," Cuomo said. "Although slavery ended over 150 years ago, there has still been rampant, systemic discrimination and injustice in this state and this nation, and we have been working to enact real reforms to address these inequalities."

Cuomo said he wants to make the day a holiday "so New Yorkers can use this day to reflect on all the changes we still need to make to create a more fair, just and equal society."

New York State Assembly member Alicia Hyndman quoted former slave Pierce Harper, in the WPA Slave Narratives of Texas, who spoke about how it felt to be freed: "When peace come they read the Emancipation law to the slaves people, they spent that night singin' and shoutin'. They wasn't slaves no more."

Juneteenth, she added, "is pivotal in the joy, congregation, and spiritual well being of black people in America. I am pleased that the work I have done to solidify Juneteenth as a holiday in the state of New York is coming to fruition. I look forward to working with my colleagues and the governor to ensure black history and liberation stays at the forefront of progress."

Dr. James Banks, coordinator of Multicultural Affairs and consultant to the Center for Social Justice and Human Understanding of Suffolk County Community College and the eastern campus, where he also teaches, said Juneteenth was also an important and historic day for the Karankawa Native American population in Texas.

Marking Juneteenth as a holiday in the United States, Banks said, comes at critical juncture: "In a lot of ways, people in America are starting to recognize and acknowledge the lives, successes, and of course, the holidays celebrated by African Americans."

For many years, a Juneteenth celebration has been held in both Riverhead and Riverside, hosted by the East End Voter Coalition and featuring an essay contest.

At the end of the event, Highsmith called the children forward. "In a world that tells you you are thugs, you are kings," she said. "Our ancestors were not slaves, they were enslaved people. I want you to never be discouraged, to show who you are, and to speak up for what you believe in, because you are all smart, you are all talented, you are all important, and you all matter. And your lives matter."

She told the young people to look around because everyone present would "have your back. I hope everyone has your back," she said.

"Amen," the crowd cried.

"Amen," a little boy echoed.

"So as you leave here, I want you to keep your head up high," Highsmith said. "I want you to stay black and stay proud —and remember that your lives matter."