Commemorating Juneteenth: Gathering
www.facebook.com/groups/884438252772357/
Commemorating Juneteenth
Narrator: Khalilah Hambleton
Artist: Chioma Namiboo
"I remember hearing the birds first. They rose up from the marshes over to the East; the
wide wings of the cranes flapping as they went overhead. The smaller geese lifted in
the air and red head herrings. It was a beautiful spectacle really. It happened often
enough to not cause a curious head to raise. More riders bringing the wagons that
would load the cotton and behind that the men sitting high up on their mounts looking
menacingly at the Afrikaans and Negro faces. Menace and mean; raw hate.
Combinations that spelled Terror so we didn’t look up at them. Heads stayed bent
working the fields unmindful of the presence. Today was different.
The long parade came into view with a flag flying. I didn’t recognize this flag though
I had seen it’s colors in other flags. The men did sit high as well and their uniform was
a color I had not seen before either. A precious Blue with the gold buttons down the
chest. The head man passed and nodded to the bewildered eyes that looked up from
their obligations. I saw them move on. Some jotting pass hurriedly flanking the field
and making a fence around us. The same Terror rose up in us even though we did not
know why. The faces were not the faces of what we had seen before but the weapons
were the same; big guns and sticks with blades. The men pulled the women and
children in and made a circle of false protection around us. Today we would all die
here together. The men, fathers, husbands and brothers, and the rest of kin's people
would succumb to the dominance of these peoples. We believed that death was
freedom that some had remembered, others had chose to forget and most had never
known.
The elder from among us stood apart and looked at the face that looked down at him.
The soldier with his blue uniform on came down from his horse. He approached as
others along with him dismounted from the horses. Their faces were different and his
words were even and strong. “Today you are ‘emancipated’. Today you are a ‘free’
people. The President Abraham Lincoln signed his name to a paper making all the
Afrikaners and Negros free.”
The evening was full of talk, laughter and celebration; the newness of freedom
surging like the full birth of new life. We recited this date over and over again.
Children’s voices rising in unison the made up songs unrehearsed. Today is June 19,
1865. A celebration of freedom deferred. A celebration of freedom of life.
We had believed that death was freedom that some had remembered, others had chose
to forget and most had never known."
Commemorating Juneteenth: Gathering
www.facebook.com/groups/884438252772357/
Commemorating Juneteenth
Narrator: Khalilah Hambleton
Artist: Chioma Namiboo
"I remember hearing the birds first. They rose up from the marshes over to the East; the
wide wings of the cranes flapping as they went overhead. The smaller geese lifted in
the air and red head herrings. It was a beautiful spectacle really. It happened often
enough to not cause a curious head to raise. More riders bringing the wagons that
would load the cotton and behind that the men sitting high up on their mounts looking
menacingly at the Afrikaans and Negro faces. Menace and mean; raw hate.
Combinations that spelled Terror so we didn’t look up at them. Heads stayed bent
working the fields unmindful of the presence. Today was different.
The long parade came into view with a flag flying. I didn’t recognize this flag though
I had seen it’s colors in other flags. The men did sit high as well and their uniform was
a color I had not seen before either. A precious Blue with the gold buttons down the
chest. The head man passed and nodded to the bewildered eyes that looked up from
their obligations. I saw them move on. Some jotting pass hurriedly flanking the field
and making a fence around us. The same Terror rose up in us even though we did not
know why. The faces were not the faces of what we had seen before but the weapons
were the same; big guns and sticks with blades. The men pulled the women and
children in and made a circle of false protection around us. Today we would all die
here together. The men, fathers, husbands and brothers, and the rest of kin's people
would succumb to the dominance of these peoples. We believed that death was
freedom that some had remembered, others had chose to forget and most had never
known.
The elder from among us stood apart and looked at the face that looked down at him.
The soldier with his blue uniform on came down from his horse. He approached as
others along with him dismounted from the horses. Their faces were different and his
words were even and strong. “Today you are ‘emancipated’. Today you are a ‘free’
people. The President Abraham Lincoln signed his name to a paper making all the
Afrikaners and Negros free.”
The evening was full of talk, laughter and celebration; the newness of freedom
surging like the full birth of new life. We recited this date over and over again.
Children’s voices rising in unison the made up songs unrehearsed. Today is June 19,
1865. A celebration of freedom deferred. A celebration of freedom of life.
We had believed that death was freedom that some had remembered, others had chose
to forget and most had never known."