This past Friday we celebrated Juneteenth. Locally, in our headquarters’ hometown, The Freedom Festival of Warwick was held in our local park emceed by our own Wayne Patterson. The event brought people from across Orange County together to celebrate community, culture and unity with performances by musical groups, dance troupes and spoken word delivered by artists of all ages.
“As we spend today, Juneteenth, here in Warwick, New York, a day of remembrance, independence and joy for the celebration of freedom,” said Patterson, “we got to see our youth performing words, and art, and dance to show that there is hope for our future.”
While this event brought joy and hope to so many, it remains controversial; viewed as “a made-up holiday” or another “non-working holiday”. Still others think it’s redundant, since July 4this Independence Day and our freedom is celebrated then.
So, why Juneteenth? No shade to July 4th, which marks our nation’s independence and the birth of a new country, however, reality that the promise of liberty did not apply to everyone on July 4, 1776. Millions of Black Americans remained enslavedand would remain so until the mid 1800s.
It was not until June 19, 1865, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, that Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas to ensure that the last remaining enslaved people were freed.
True freedom requires completion. Juneteenth is the day when the words of the Declaration of Independence were finally true: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Libertyand the pursuit of Happiness.”
That is why Juneteenth holds such profound significance.
Mechanical Rubber’s own Wayne Patterson, Inside Sales Griswold Products, was emcee for Warwick’s Juneteenth celebration.
Hudson Valley Ebony Strings, a string chamber group comprised of African American youth artists led by E’lissa Jones.
Freedom was celebrated on Juneteenth in Warwick’s Stanley Deming Park.
