‘This is American history’: Two days of celebrations planned
Festivities marking final end of slavery largest yet in Valley
Juneteenth, the anniversary of slavery’s end across the entire United States, will be celebrated this year on a scale larger than ever before in the Lehigh Valley.
The planned festivities include three large events and a plaque dedication in two cities over two days. The celebrations, put on by several organizations June 18-19 in Allentown and Bethlehem, will feature live entertainment, food and education about Juneteenth.
“I don’t remember this much Juneteenth activity happening in the Lehigh Valley before this year,” said Esther Lee, president of the NAACP’s Bethlehem branch, which has planned a June 18 event in that city.
Last year was the first time many Lehigh Valley residents could recall anyone publicly observing Juneteenth. Amid nationwide unrest sparked by the murder of Black Minneapolis resident George Floyd by a white police officer in May 2020, Allentown and Bethlehem demonstrators used the day to protest racism and police brutality against people of color.
The public outcry against racial injustice spurred by Floyd’s death led to a greater interest in diversity, inclusion and equity, said Karen Britt, president of Juneteenth Lehigh Valley, a nonprofit organization planning a June 19 event in Bethlehem.
“It’s time to elevate Juneteenth and its significance in America’s consciousness,” said Britt, of Coplay, a business and economics professor at Northampton Community and Muhlenberg colleges. “It really needs to be celebrated as much as we celebrate the Fourth of July. Because it’s not the Fourth of July, but Juneteenth, which is Independence Day for us as
Black people.”
Kevin Greene, chief operating officer of the Black-owned Faces International, a marketing company helping Britt promote the June 19 Bethlehem event, echoed her.
“This is American history,” Greene said. “This is celebrating the end of slavery, something that American society and as a culture still has not completely come to grips with, and been able to right the wrongs of slavery and really create any type of real system for us going forward.
“So this celebration is important to what we say America is all about, which is freedom,” he said. “And Juneteenth in itself is important because it’s, really, America continuing to strive to actually live up to its creed of what it wants to be.”
What is Juneteenth?
Until recent years, the history behind Juneteenth was unfamiliar to many, even in the Black community.
Tyrone Russell of Allentown, co-founder of Faces International, grew up celebrating Juneteenth with his family in San Diego.
“It was like a neighborhood family reunion, but I didn’t really understand the significance of it,” Russell said. “In my teens, I moved to the East Coast and found it wasn’t celebrated here like it was where I grew up. I wondered why and looked it up, which is how I learned more about it.”
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War.
“Lincoln’s order was meant to break the ability of pro-secession slaveholding states to wage war, and that ability relied significantly on slave labor,” said Nicholas Creary, a professor of African American history at Moravian College in Bethlehem.
The war continued for another two years, until April 1865. Two months afterward, on June 19, Union troops marched into Galveston, Texas, the last place in America still holding slaves, and announced General Order No. 3 enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation.
“All slaves are free,” the order said. “This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.”
Freed slaves immediately began celebrating.
“And that’s how it began,” Creary said. “To this day, descendants of freed slaves who stayed in the South celebrate Juneteenth. But for many other Black families who migrated in search of better opportunities in other parts of the country, priorities changed and Juneteenth lost its meaning, which is why it hasn’t been celebrated as much in many Black communities outside of the South.
“That’s changed as a result of the Black pride and civil rights movements of the 1960s and ‘70s,” he said. “And now, within the past year, more white Americans are becoming aware of Juneteenth due to outrage over injustices such as the George Floyd case.”
‘This is the spirit of freedom’
Robin Riley-Casey of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce’s African American Business Leaders Council, which is partnering with Juneteenth Lehigh Valley on its event, didn’t celebrate when growing up in Ohio.
“I think some in my family didn’t want to remember or think on the sad parts of our history,” Riley-Casey said. “I learned more about Juneteenth as a college undergraduate. When it became a more prominent observance, I was excited to celebrate the joy of all my ancestors.
“This is the celebration of a people who labored under harsh conditions, who resisted their oppressors, who fought for their liberty and found joy wherever they could,” she said. “This is the spirit of freedom.”
“It’s kind of taken off. It’s ironic that I have a few friends who, to this day, didn’t know what Juneteenth was — a few Black friends,” Marvin Boyer said.
Boyer, political action chair for the Easton NAACP, said a few people asked him at a recent meeting about the history of the celebration.
“Historically, these things were not taught in our schools, certainly not in my time,” he said. “That is even true in today’s world, and, hopefully, some of that will change.”
It’s been an awakening, Boyer said, for the community to learn about the importance and the historical significance of Juneteenth.
“You know, there’s an old saying, ‘History is written by the winners,’ and as it relates to this country, it’s been white folks, frankly, that have eliminated references to Black achievements,” he said. “That’s reality.”
Others agree on the importance of the observance.
“We Black people are as much a part of this country as anyone else,” Lee said. “We’ve been here for centuries, since even before the United States was founded. Our contributions, our culture, our history and our struggle for freedom and equality are woven into the fabric of this nation and should be recognized. And that’s why we should all celebrate Juneteenth.”
Celebrations in the Lehigh Valley
Perhaps the largest of the three events is Juneteenth Lehigh Valley, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 19, at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.
Unlike any previous Juneteenth celebrations, “this will be a larger, more coalescent, more diversified event for the entire region,” Britt said. “We want this to be an annual event.”
Juneteenth Lehigh Valley will feature live entertainment, including R&B, jazz, reggae and gospel performers, a magic show, art displays and step dancing by Black college fraternities and sororities. Also prominent will be educational information, including literature, a film played on a repeating loop and a virtual panel discussion on Juneteenth’s origin and significance.
Additionally, the public can take part in a menu-tasting of foods traditionally associated with Juneteenth. On the menu, for example, are red velvet cake and strawberry soda, the refreshments with which freed slaves celebrated since they previously weren’t allowed to have foods reserved exclusively for their former owners, Britt said.
“Education is the key,” said artist Jackie Lima of Easton, who designed an educational Juneteenth children’s coloring book to be featured at the event. “It gives us the real information we need to make decisions that shape our future as individuals and as a nation. Slavery is a horror and a source of American shame. Juneteenth acknowledges our past and shapes our future freedoms.”
Juneteenth is an open event, and doesn’t require lawn space registrations, but masks will be required as part of COVID-19 guidelines, Britt said. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Bethlehem NAACP’s event, which is already filled to capacity, is scheduled for 6 p.m. June 18, at the Bethlehem Sculpture Garden at 10 E. Church St. It will feature African drumming, dancing, singing, crafts and a Juneteenth history presentation.
“Juneteenth is American history, not just African American history,” guest speaker and NCC history professor Sholomo Levy said. “Abolitionist Fredrick Douglass, when invited to speak at a Fourth of July event 11 years before the Emancipation Proclamation, reminded the audience that this traditional celebration of American freedom was premature at a time when Black people in the country were still enslaved.
“The end of slavery didn’t mean the end of struggle for African Americans, who then had to contend with segregation, violence and other ills rooted in racism, including still being denied the right to vote for almost
another century after the 15th Amendment was passed,” Levy said. “Benjamin Franklin said liberty must be vigilantly maintained. And that truly means liberty for all, regardless of race. Juneteenth reminds us of this.”
Another celebration is taking place in Allentown, beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday with a flag raising at City Hall and ending with fireworks at 9 p.m. at Seventh and Hamilton streets.
During the afternoon, there’s going to be a celebration of Blackness, liberation and freedom at Resurrected Life Community Church, 144 N. Ninth St., with music, dancing, food and a graduation for children from the church’s Children’s Academy.
African Americans have made significant contributions to the city that have not been appreciated or acknowledged, the Rev. Gregory Edwards said.
The city is named after William Allen, who was tied to the slave trade along with his business partner, Joseph Turner — a part of the city’s history that many may not realize, he said.
“Having this holiday in the midst of the city that’s accessible, that the celebration of Blackness and freedom and liberation, I think is critically important,” he said. “There needs to be a shift within the narrative of Allentown and not just an acknowledgement for the contributions of people of color, but also a transition and how the dominant culture interacts with persons of color, specifically, people of African, Black African heritage.”
Also part of the Lehigh Valley’s two-day observance will be a 3 p.m. June 19 plaque dedication at the world’s only statue of Martin Luther King Jr. and wife Coretta Scott King in Allentown.
Allentown activist Harry Roberts pushed to have a memorial statue honoring the civil rights champions erected in the city. Roberts’ dream came true in 2011, three years after his death, when the statue was unveiled in the plaza named after him at South Fourth Street and Martin Luther King Drive. The 7-foot bronze statue, sculpted by Ed Dwight Jr. of Colorado, depicts the Kings marching arm in arm.
“The memorial has never had a plaque officially naming it, so we’re going to dedicate a plaque with the name for visitors to know what it is,” said chairperson Sharon Fraser of the Martin Luther & Coretta Scott King Memorial Project in Allentown, which does educational outreach on Black history and self-improvement for local children. “The plaque will read ‘Freedom Memorial Lehigh Valley at Harry Roberts Plaza’ and include sculptor Ed Dwight’s name.
“What better opportunity than Juneteenth to have this dedication,” Fraser said. “This memorial is about freedom. Isn’t that what we’re all striving for, to ensure our children have a bright future and that our communities are safe and racism at some point is finally annihilated?”
Education, fellowship and being an ally
Juneteenth is not just for the Black community — allyship among other ethnicities is important, too, Boyer said.
“I think there is a lot of support among the young folks, millennials and even some of subsequent generations for the movement for social justice and inclusion, and that’s a positive thing,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of hope for social change, social justice reform. I’m encouraged.”
This is about an American moment, Greene said, adding that everyone is welcome at area celebrations.
“The best way is that people, of any race, it doesn’t matter ... show up and have a good time and learn something and connect with people,” Greene said. “And let that experience transcend your life, and hopefully combat some of the biases that we hold, subconsciously, unconsciously.
“And the best way to support it is to come like you would do any other American event — come and enjoy.”
It’s a time for reflection, celebration and education, Edwards said.
“African Americans and Black Americans have played a critical role in the shaping of this nation beyond their enslavement,” Edwards said. “And I think people have to embrace that. Just as Black folks need to embrace Latinx history. It’s all of our histories, right? If we are to be a more perfect union, that means that we need to celebrate all of our history.”
And while celebrations focus on education and fellowship, it’s also important to remain diligent, Boyer said.
“We cannot take freedom for granted. We cannot take civil rights for granted,” he said. “It’s something we have to strive to promote and part of that is education, not only among African Americans, but among our total population, who have been, for the most part, very supportive of the struggle and understanding.
“If I can use one word, it’s the educational component — I think that’s the key,” he said. “And that is the bedrock and the foundation of Juneteenth.”