Juneteenth is celebrated in Galveston, the home of the first

A Celebration of Independence for the First Year in a Row: A Poet Laureate Born and Born in Galveston, New Jersey

My father and his friends were very creative with the barbecue experience. He remembered that they used different types of meat, but you didn’t want to ask too many questions about what it was.

This year the island city will host a variety of events, including a reading of General Order No. 3 that was used to free those still held in slavery, and a Juneteenth Gala that costs $400 a table.

A former Ms. Juneteenth, Reese — who was raised in Dallas — would travel to Galveston every summer for Juneteenth, marching and showing off dance moves in the parade.

As part of the celebrations, a recent tradition for Reese and her family is a “freedom tour” of the island, including the historic Menard House, where her ancestors spent much of their lives enslaved.

Boston’s Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola considers Juneteenth both a celebration and a reminder of oppression. On the day of the holiday she talks about how poetry can help heal and learn, and also how her poems connect to the holiday’s themes. WBUR has a story about it.

That is one of the reasons that the Fort Worth native, who was named the grandmother of Juneteenth, spent so much time trying to make the holiday a federal holiday. A mob destroyed her family’s home in 1939. She became an educator and an activist and saw the day become a federal holiday last year. She told her local station KTVT “It’s not a Texas thing or a Black thing. It’s an American thing.

Collins has since moved away from her hometown and has settled in Florida while she works on a graduate degree, but she said she carries the memories and the message of Galveston and Juneteenth with her always.

I’ve lived all over the country. You know, no matter where I go, I’ll carry that history and honor my ancestors, and honor their struggle for freedom and their participation in the struggle for freedom.”

The 16th Miss Juneteenth Pageant in Athens, Ga., at 4 years since the Civil Rights Day of June 19, 1865

“I can remember my mother telling us stories about there being large gatherings in the city park and people would have roasted meats,” Collins recounts.

Today marks four years since Juneteenth became a federally recognized holiday. For families in Galveston, Texas, where the holiday originated, celebrations have been a mainstay for generations. Juneteenth will be observed by residents this year.

June 19th commemorates the fall of slavery in Galveston in 1865 — two years after the Emancipation Proclamation ordered the liberation of Black people held in the Confederacy.

Roy Collins said he had newspaper records of his great-grandfather, who was 25 years old at the time and was given the role of reading the Emancipation Proclamation at that celebration.

Athens, Ga., held its first-ever annual Miss Juneteenth pageant this week. Seventeen young black women were showcased to the audience with their talents and dresses. Regan Jones, a 10-year-old with an impressive step routine, took home the crown. (via WUGA)

The Keys to a New House: It was Given to Lee by the Texas Capital, Historymaker, and the End of Chattel Slavery

The keys to a new house were given to Lee this week, which is important because her family’s home once stood there. It’s been more than eight decades since it was vandalized and destroyed. The house was built and given to Lee by Texas Capital and Historymaker homes. (via KERA)

Good morning. The Up First Newsletter is giving you a Juneteenth edition. Subscribe here to get the newsletter delivered to your inbox, and listen to the Up First podcast for all the news you need to start your day.

You are able to see it. Some two years after it was issued, troops arrived to enforce The Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. The end of chattel slavery is celebrated more broadly. To my mind, it celebrates the beginning of true freedom because — as moral philosophers have long known — no one is free until everyone is because oppression ensnares the oppressor as well as the oppressed. Anyone who has ever been in a toxic relationship knows that.