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Monday, June 16, 2008

JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION-- AFRICAN-AMERICAN EMANCIPATION DAY

Saturday, June 14, my friend, Brenda F, took me to two churches, the Church of the Immaculate in Seattle and Holy Spirit Parish in Kent, Washington. At each church, Juneteenth Celebrations were hosted by Black Catholics.

What is the focus of Juneteenth? This description of its focus appeared in a program distributed at Holy Spirit Parish:
"On June 19, 1865, the Union General Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas to inform inhabitants of the Civil War's end two months earlier. Tow and a half years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This finally free the lasgt 250,000 slaves whose bondage, due to the minimal Union presence in the region, had been essentially unaffected by Lincoln's efforts...

Observance of Juneteenth has traditionally tended twoards a church-centered celebration featuring food, fun, and a focus on self-improvement and education.

Althought initially associated with Texas and other Southern states, the Civil Rights Era and the Poor People's March to Washington in 1968, helped spread the tradition all across America-- to the extent that Milwaukee and Mineapolis now host two of the largest Juneteenth celebrations in the nation.

Today Juneteenth is promoted not only as a commemoration of African-Amercan freedom, but as an example and encouragement of self-development and respect for all cultures."


The celebration at the Church of the Immaculate, which had been my mother's very much loved spiritual home, touched me on every level:

The welcoming people in the community. Here is a picture of the chef of the day, Jeffrey Petrie-Williams. He put some deep, deep magic on that barbecued chicken.
















The spirit of reverence and prayer that permeated the celebration. Here, Sharon Petrie-Williams, the director of the Office of Black Catholics for the Archdiocese, invites us to join her in prayer


















The food was taste bud tantalizing and so, so, satisfying



















And members of the Immaculate Gospel Choir got us singing joyfully together:




Thank you, wonderful people of the Church of the Immaculate and Holy Spirit Parish. I am looking forward to joining you for many, many celebrations during the next few years...

And, definitely, see you next Juneteenth!!!

7 comments:

Lorraine Hart said...

Happy Juneteenth Joseph! I will sing a song in celebration at rehearsal Thursday night!

JosephMcG said...

Is that going to happen at Jazzbones... get me on board with your upcoming appearance there...

Lorraine Hart said...

The Jazzbones gig...a benefit for the Tacoma Waldorf School is set for Sunday, June 29th. Doors open at 6pm. Admission is $15...but it's for a really great school. We are donating our performance for the cause. Love to see a whole "Blog Squad" table! Thanks for the opportunity to mention it, my friend...we appreciate it.

JosephMcG said...

Love to be there and I shall be at the World Wide Marriage Encounter Convention in Ontario, California that day... would love to have been at the rehearsal Thursday night...
sometime please let me share that song with you
next blogsquad outing I am going to burn some red beans and hotlinks... do not apply for this moment of pleasure if you have a funny stomach... it's going to be a hot burning, soul stirring delight... I guarantee it

VW said...

Happy Juneteenth! I rather like that word! Certainly a great reason to celebrate. I've kind of watched as it has slowly moved outward from a small regional celebration.

VW

JosephMcG said...

Thanks, VW, Saturday I was recalling my childhood in Houston. I lived, for a time, four blocks away from Emancipation Park (1940-44).. It was one of the places the slaves bought, following the federal proclamation of freedom in Galveston, so that they could gather to remember (food, song, games, prayer, speeches) the day when slavery officially ended in the USA...
Now, at sixty-seven, I am doing my best to become a healthy, loving, God-fearing human being...
I have so many reasons to thank my mother, my grandmother, and all the folks who loved me into becoming who I am becoming...

Peace

Kim Thompson said...

I always learn something new from you, Joseph!