By NEIL ZOLOT
WAKEFIELD – Juneteenth weekend kicked off with an evening ceremony and flag raising at the Americal Civic Center, 467 Main St., Thursday, June 15 at 6 p.m., a few days before the June 19 holiday. “It’s all about education,” North Shore Juneteenth member and former local Human Rights Commission member Nicole Jacob said about the day that commemorates slaves in Texas being informed of their freedom in 1866, three years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
“This is a historic day for everyone. The sin of slavery was very bad. Juneteenth celebrates freedom for all of us. The 4th of July was freedom for some,” she said.
“The purpose of Juneteenth is to learn about the history that affected all residents, not just African-Americans,” Town Councilor Mehreen Butt added. “Slavery was part of all of America.”
Town Councilor Julie Smith-Galvin called Juneteenth “a celebration of freedom of the slaves. This is part of American history. We all benefited from that free labor.”
The keynote speaker of the event was State Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian, who recalled not knowing about Juneteenth despite having grown up and worked in areas with high African-American populations, Richmond, Virginia and Atlanta. “I can’t remember a single lesson or project on Juneteeneth,” she said of her days as a student in Richmond and a teacher in Atlanta. “This is a day that should be celebrated by everyone. It wasn’t part of my vocabulary, but now all children will know about Juneteenth and all teachers will be able to teach about it.”
She also recalled a section of Richmond with statues of Confederate leaders, “statues of people who lost a war,” and the controversy surrounding ideas to erect a statue of African-American tennis player Arthur Ashe. She reported that only Ashe’s statue remains on Monument Avenue there.
The ceremony also included Tanya Crowell singing Lift Every Voice and Sing and poet Terry Carter reading his own Juneteenth Journey. “Heed the story and learn the facts,” he said. “The curse of race still finds a way to poison minds. Hug your neighbor and shake a hand as freedom rings throughout the land.”
Members of the Lynn English ROTC raised the flag.
Among those in attendance were members of the Wakefield High Black Student Union with METCO Director Galvia Smith and METCO Elementary Coordinator Angela Driggers. “This is the beginning of the community being open about how Wakefield is changing, not only in its demographics, but in regard to the other history of America,” Smith said. “There’s American history and African-American history. American and Western civilization has to atone for what happened. We all benefited from that and some of the problems persist today related to mortgage rates and housing.”
“There’s still a lot of work to do, but there’s been recognition and learning,” Driggers added. “There’s been a breakthrough and Juneteenth is being acknowledged in the schools. There’s been a change.”
Finance Committee member Tarae Howell brought his young son to the ceremony. A descendant of slaves, he called the Juneteenth holiday “a turning point in American history. This is something that has to be confronted. It was a difficult part of our history, but we are progressing.”
Town Councilor Edward Dembroski and School Committee member Peter Davis were also at the ceremony.