Honoring Nantucket's anti-slavery tradition
BY MARLI GUZZETTA INDEPENDENT ARTS EDITOR
It seems a bit odd, doesn't it, that the United States doesn't have a national holiday commemorating the emancipation of the slaves?

Juneteenth, a regional celebration that began in Texas, is the closest thing to it - and in its 151st year, the tradition arrives on Nantucket this summer.

"Juneteenth" began on June 19,1865 when, months after the surrender of General Lee, Union Major General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston, Texas with the news that the war had ended and the slaves were free.

African-Americans hadn't had any time to plan for their liberation. According to the official Juneteenth Web site (www.juneteenth.com), they reacted with immediate celebration - tossing their slave work clothes into the river, organizing get-togethers, barbeques, spontaneous church services, concerts and performances - and readied to move to the North or to neighboring Southern states to reunite with family members.

With outdoors activities focusing on family, fellowship and self-improvement, Juneteenth was a regularly observed Southern holiday until the late 1900s. As the economy went South, Juneteenth celebrations became fewer, and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 became the standard milestone for emancipation in school textbooks.

But the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and 70s resurrected the holiday - it became especially popular in Texas and its surrounding states. Today, Juneteeth is the oldest celebration commemorating the end of slavery.

Loren Brock, owner of the Toy Boat, has been recognizing the June 19 holiday for the past five years by freely distributing a recipe for West African ginger ale - "a ginger ale, lemonade-y beverage that was traditional in West Africa and brought to us with slavery."

"Juneteenth has not been made into a large celebration, so it's fun to introduce people to it," Brock said. "We're such a diverse national culture, and Nantucket has become part of that. The longer these kinds of things exist, the better we'll all be." For the first time, Nantucket will

have a proper Juneteenth (though it will happen on June 24), thanks to the African Meeting House. Volunteer and event coordinator Sharon Liburd has planned a gathering of outdoor performances by local parents and children to be followed by a bag-lunch picnic.

In keeping with its genesis, Juneteenth is not a particularly fancy celebration - it emphasizes spontaneity and genuine enjoyment over rigid tradition.

Liburd hopes this year's Juneteenth will become a traditional community gathering, "celebrating Nantucket's history as a whole, which is significantly rich in black history - a very fascinating history that all should be proud of," Liburd said. "Because of its location and difficulty to get to, Nantucket was a safe haven for many fleeing from slavery in the South," explained Liburd, who added that Nantucket, although steeped in Quaker beliefs, also had slaves and a history of segregation in its community, schools and burial grounds.

"Many people would like to think otherwise, but that doesn't change history," she said. "Slaves on Nantucket may not have worked under the notorious conditions of the South, but slavery did exist," she said. "The only shame should be in not accepting history as it is and not celebrating the Nantucketers, black and white, who fought for change and equality for all."

I

JUNETEENTH

GATHERING

Learn some history and have lots of fun. Adults and children are invited to read poetry, sing, dance or share their talents. This is an opportunity to gather, see old faces and new ones. Please pack a lunch, to be enjoyed on the lawn after the show. Beverages provided.

When: Saturday, June 24, 12:30 p.m. Where: African Meeting House on Nantucket, 29 York Street For more information, call 228-9833.