On Juneteenth, reflecting on what freedom means

On this Juneteenth, your thoughts may turn to the moment in 1865 when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to deliver the belated news of freedom to enslaved Black people.

You may be thinking about celebrations of Black culture, of picnics that include barbecue, potato salad and red velvet cake and red drink.

Maybe, like local resident Latorya Greene, you're pondering the concept of "freedom," and what it means today for African Americans.

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Or perhaps you're among the 62% of Americans who know "a little" or "nothing at all" about Juneteenth, according to a Gallup Poll of a few years ago.

That lack of knowledge probably wouldn't surprise Greene, the president of the South Bend Chapter of Indiana Black Expo. The organization has sponsored a Juneteenth celebration since 1999 (it evolved from an earlier, three-day celebration started by a group of community members). Some people think the holiday is "something that just happened a few years ago," she notes.

This year's Black Expo-led celebration, which took place on Saturday, highlighted minority-owned businesses and included vendors that promoted African American culture. It also showcased local artists and provided information about topics ranging from health issues to voter registration. But, as always, it starts with a discussion of history, giving credit to activist Opal Lee, the 96-year-old Texas woman known as the "grandmother of Juneteenth." She spent years on a mission to make the day — a Texas state holiday since 1980 — a federal holiday.

Greene says it's important to celebrate the holiday, but also to understand it. She gathered a collection of national and local resources about Juneteenth on the St. Joseph County Public Library's Bendable learning platform. "I want people to know the significance of Juneteenth, and what's behind it, what was the reason for it."

For her, it's about treating the holiday "like Martin Luther King Day; it's not a day off, it's a day on," whether that involves community service or helping out in any way.

And Greene, who on Saturday wore a Juneteenth t-shirt proclaiming "Free-ish since 1865," encourages African Americans to reflect on their own freedom. "Even though this is a day to celebrate the emancipation of slaves, are we really free? … What are you supporting as far as equality and equity within our community?"

She worries that the holiday will become overly commercialized: "I think I was at the dollar store last year, and they had their Juneteenth section of party goods, and I'm like, "Oh my God, this is what I'm talking about.' How many people are coming into the dollar store, passing this, and have no idea what 'Happy Juneteenth' is."

Scott Barton, an assistant professor of race, food, environmental and cultural studies at the University of Notre Dame, explains that Juneteenth is part of a tradition of earlier, similar celebrations. During a recent conversation, he discussed Watch Night, when African Americans across the country watched and waited for the news of freedom. Barton also talked about Pinkster, a celebration by African and Dutch New Yorkers throughout the 1700s that he calls the original emancipation holiday. "They allowed their enslaved Africans to have a limited freedom and for somewhere between three to seven or 10 days, quote, unquote I could be free to move around."

A food scholar — and a working chef for 30 years before pursuing his master's degree — Barton was scheduled to deliver two talks about Juneteenth this past weekend, including one that's part of a James Beard Foundation discussion. Barton views Juneteenth through the food and drinks that are part of the celebration. One of the key elements is red drink, which was originally a spiced hibiscus tea, but can be various types of beverages. "Traditionally, red is an auspicious color … that relates to deities and sacred culture." He notes that "some people equate the red drink or red food as a link to the blood or bloodlines we descend from."

It's that culture, and a sense of connection to the past, that defines Juneteenth for Barton. When we spoke, it was a day after the Supreme Court's decision upholding the Voting Rights Act in Alabama. The decision, which he calls a "little victory," was on his mind, as were the attacks on Black history from people "who do not want to believe this country could be founded on democratic principles and enslavement."

"How do I celebrate it, how do I acknowledge it? I would say it's both the legacy that I'm here, that I'm here because of people like my parents and others to honor the ancestors I descend from. And that I’m here for some of these little victories, like this vote."

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Juneteenth measures the distance between "free-ish" and actually free