Black-owned businesses, informational vendors and community groups gathered in Court Square in Springfield to commemorate the day in 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger reached Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War had ended and enslaved people were free.
June 19 will now and forevermore be known as Juneteenth across the United States of America.
Springfield City Councilor Tracye Whitfield was educated about Juneteenth roughly 15 years ago when she took her daughter to an event at the Springfield Museums.
“I thought that it would be great if everybody knew about the real emancipation that happened in America, because you can’t say July 4, 1776, was emancipation,” Whitfield stated. “Yes, from the British, but not for everyone in America because slavery was still around until 1863, we were emancipated and then they found out about, June 19th, 1865, in Galveston, Texas.”
On January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the Confederate States were declared legally free after the Union won the civil war and President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it could not be implemented in places still under Confederate control.
As a result, in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people would not be free until June 19, 1865, when 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas.
The Union army announced that the more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state, were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as Juneteenth, by the newly freed people in Texas.
After 156 years, the holiday has now been made official. All 50 states now recognize the day after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 415-14 on Wednesday, and President Joe Biden confirmed the law, Friday, making Juneteenth the 12th federal holiday.
Massachusetts legislators and President Joe Biden confirmed laws making Juneteenth a state and federal holiday. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
“Before it became a national holiday, we have made it a municipal holiday in the city of Springfield,” Whitfield told MassLive.
Whitfield added that the municipal holiday was cosponsored by City Councilor Justin Hurst.
The city’s Health and Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris told MassLive that the holiday being recognized is long overdue.
“It really validates our history and what we have been through as a race of individuals,” said Caulton-Harris. “So, just knowing that we’re celebrating this holiday with hundreds and hundreds of residents in the city is so meaningful and so important.”
She told MassLive that the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota highlighted how important the history of African Americans in the United States is.
“Having it be a state and federal holiday is just so gratifying and validating,” Caulton-Harris said.
The U.S. has a history of persecution towards Black citizens and even veterans that risked their lives fighting for Uncle Sam.
Tony Francis, a former paratrooper and Vietnam veteran spoke about the discrimination he endured while he was serving and when he came home. Massachusetts legislators and President Joe Biden confirmed laws making Juneteenth a state and federal holiday. (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
Tony Francis, a former paratrooper in the U.S. Army and Vietnam war veteran told MassLive about the treatment and discrimination he suffered within his military unit and out. He said that he served a 13-month tour of Vietnam in 1969.
He did stress that his platoon and close colleagues were not the issue during his service. It was those in the military that didn’t know him and usually non-commissioned officers or commissioned officers.
“So, who could I complain to,” Francis asked.
Francis states that it has gotten better regarding how Black men are seen in the U.S. But he added that even now in Massachusetts, he still feels he doesn’t belong when he walks into a restaurant that has mainly white people. They seem to stare at him, he said.
Two months ago, Naftalia and her 3-year-old daughter Harley Jade Anderson moved to Springfield from Washington D.C. She owns the catering company "Double D'Lites." She was one of eight Springfield Black owned businesses that took part in the "Taste of Dine Black Springfield." (Douglas Hook / MassLive)
Naftalia Anderson and her 3-year-old daughter Harley Jade Anderson moved to Springfield from Washington D.C. two months ago. She came to be closer to her family who is residents of the city. The cost of living in Springfield is much cheaper compared to Washington D.C., added Anderson.
“I actually don’t celebrate the 4th of July,” said 31-year-old Anderson highlighting the meaning of the holiday is not the same for Black Americans. “I’ve always celebrated Juneteenth. The first time I’ve ever experienced Juneteenth was when I was 17 years old.”
Anderson owns a catering business “Double D’Lites,” that had a selection of food inspired by her Jamaican father and “Bajan,” mother. “Bajan” is a West Indian term for people from Barbados, according to Anderson.
A couple of the vendors in Court Square offered services to help those suffering from a mental health crisis.
In 2019, suicide was the second leading cause of death for Black or African Americans, ages 15 to 24-year-olds, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Bishop Neal Boyd is part of the executive committee of Pioneer Valley Coalition for Suicide Prevention. He had set up a stall to inform and speak to the Springfield Black community.
“It’s always been a stigma in the Black community,” said Whitfield. “The term crazy and all the other stigmas that go along with mental health, but it’s important for us to get the help and the service help and the services that we need. I’m glad that Bishop Boyd is out here to educate on mental health awareness and help change that stigma.”
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Springfield celebrates its first federally recognized Juneteenth holiday - MassLive.com
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