Juneteenth online at Caffe Lena
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Juneteenth has been an American holiday that has long been celebrated by the Black community and less so by the white population.
Like so many things that have been invisible to the majority of people in the United States, this year the holiday is being noticed by the entire country.
Locally, there is a twohour webcast being streamed by Caffe Lena from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 19. “Juneteenth Legacy: A Work in Progress” will be a combination of song, dramatic renderings and a 45-minute segment of an original play “Whitewashed: the racism project.”
Also included is a reading of the Frederic Douglas speech, “What to the slave is the Fourth of July?”
Participating organizations are MLK Saratoga, Black Theatre Troupe of Upstate New York and Creative Action Unlimited. It is sponsored by Caffe Lena. The host is Garland Nelson, one of the chairs of MLK Saratoga and director of A Joyful Noise, Capital Region Gospel Choir.
The streaming site can be found at CaffeLena.org or MLKSaratoga.org Online donations will be shared with the performing artists.
Juneteenth, which is also called Freedom Day for Black Americans, celebrates June 19 as the day in which all slaves in the United States were notified of their freedom. Remarkably, it was on this date in 1865 – two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation - that 250,000 enslaved Texans finally learned of their freedom.
It meant the abolition of slavery was complete.
A statement by Creative Action Unlimited who is performing “Whitewashed …” describes the intent of the work as “To encourage members of the audience to be willing to become involved in anti-racism work at every level – from home to work, to their communities and beyond.”
Aaron Moore, an Albanybased actor who performs in “Whitewashed…”, calls June 19, “a time that is precious for our community. It’s a time for remembrance and celebration.”
Moore says both the Caffe Lena sponsored event and the play, which in full length runs one hour and ten minutes, attempt to show how African-Americans’ lives matter little, both in America and globally. “We want to speak about and show the truth of the Black experience.”
The goal, he says, is “To show who we are and what we expect in the future.”
His words are echoed by the organizers who write, “We cannot ignore the daily headlines and protests. We have enormous work to do to achieve true justice for Black people.”
It appears that freedom was granted to Black slaves on June 19, 1865. Justice and equality have taken a lot longer to achieve.
For more information go to CaffeLena.org or MLKSaratoga.org. The event streams Friday, June 19 from 7 to 9 p.m.