Texas was the last stop for Gen. Gordon Granger as he delivered Order No. 3 from President Abraham Lincoln declaring that all slaves were free.
The slaves who stayed after their release danced, ate and drank whiskey. The next day they woke up with a big headache. They realized that they had nothing — no money, no place to live, no job to go to. Most of them did not know where their family members were. They were homeless. Homeless people today are getting a feeling for how Black Americans feel about their treatment from White America.
The Central Area Chamber of Commerce has hosted the Juneteenth festival at Pratt Park for many decades. This year marks 35 years. Our first Juneteenth Festival was put on with the Texas Club, and all 34 festivals since have been the product of the Central Area Chamber of Commerce. Our mission is to educate the public about our lost history. We are ringing the bell of freedom worldwide. We now call our festival Juneteenth International because, as time passed, people have relocated throughout the world. At the time of the end of slavery in 1865, people never got paid for laboring as indentured servants (slaves). There are Black Americans who still carry the hatred toward us for doing this celebration and will not attend this event to learn what has happened, and the reason why we celebrate Juneteenth in the spirit of love, joy and peace! There are many Black and White folks who remain in a negative spirit when they read that people are still celebrating this day.Some have a fear, some are ashamed, some are angry because slavery ended and that they are still tagged with not paying the folks what they owe.
Juneteenth is celebrated for the same reason White people celebrate May Day: It is a cry for help! It is about the economic crises that have been placed to rest on their shoulders, which left them with no jobs, homeless, no food, no education, inflated food prices and with nothing changing since 1865.
We are building hope for the new world, that in tomorrow’s world the new people will have love and respect for all of God’s people. Central Chamber’s mission has been to educate the world on the fact that Black American people got a very raw deal. They were promised pay for a good day’s work, they were lied to, they were killed, they were treated badly and got nothing for their hard labor as they built America (while enslaved). This has left some Black Americans still crying out to be paid for laboring hard to build America, where they never received a true benefit. Blacks can cry out “May Day” as well!
There are still some Black Americans who are angry because they still feel the effects of slavery and have come to know that they were stolen from Africa during the period between 1783 and 1793. The Liverpool traders took over 300,000 slaves. In the following decades, they sent around 2.7 million slaves out in the 17th century, 7 million in the 18th and 4 million in the 19th. Millions died en route, and the million who arrived were permanently disabled from being “stacked” upon each other. However millions arrived and were sold on open markets. Whatever the number was, these people built America and never received a dime. And we want to tell our story through the eyes of the Lord, to help educate the public that it has been the Black folks who built this world and that it is time to own up to the fact that they have never received payment for their labor and that we have a right to be heard that Black Lives Matter!
People are now taking note of the day when the honorable Frederick Douglass urged a policy of emancipation to be written and displayed for a better understanding of what had taken place with the selling of slaves. We have learned that both Black and White people fought in the civil war. Today we see that fight is being fought all over again. We see women and children living on the streets. We have noticed that all races of people are becoming homeless, jobless and are without food.
We are paying tribute to all people and ask that you come out and help us build community, celebrating Juneteenth International on June 16, 17 and 18 at Pratt Park. The event is a free celebration and education about the rich history of the day in 1865.
DeCharlene Williams is the founder and president of the Central Area Chamber of Commerce.
Read the full June 7 issue.
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