The community joins together to teach history to local youth.

Brassy, soothing sounds of the trumpet tranquilized buried souls as children observing the massive grave that is Woodlawn cemetery looked amazed to be standing at such a historical site located right in their hometown.

As a part of Friday’s Juneteenth – the yearly celebration of the end of slavery -children marched with banners of red, black and green in memory of their ancestor’s struggles. Unified voices singing “Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray” drifted with the summer breeze and a celebration of freedom began.

Advertisement

“We march with the vision of Frederick Douglass. We march with the courage of Harriet Tubman. We march with the love of Jesus. We march with the spirit of 100 million ancestors lost in the slave trade,” read the banner carried by 7-year-old Taylor Hicks of Carbondale.

Hicks looked down at his banner as he explained, “My history means a lot to me.”

The African American Museum of Southern Illinois and Rock Hill Baptist Church opened the annals of local and national history to youth such as Hicks in the second annual Juneteenth observance, often referred to as the “Black fourth of July.”

Co-chair of the Juneteenth committee, Laurie Bryant, said this year’s celebration was geared to be a youth explosion “because the future lies in children’s hands.”

Coordinator of the Juneteenth celebration, Corene McDaniel of the Carbondale City Council, said the importance of the event is in educating people – especially young people.

“If history is retained, then it will not be repeated,” McDaniel said.

The journey back in time began when three military personnel, followed by local Girl Scout troops, led about 50 people in a march from Rock Hill Baptist Church to Woodlawn Cemetery.

Advertisement*

Buried in Woodlawn is Civil War veteran Lewis Chambers, who was also once a slave. As the crowd stood surrounding the graves, speaker Patricia Mayberry revealed that although there are records of Chambers’ enlistment, it is a mystery as to how his body got to Carbondale. Mayberry slowly glanced across the crowd before saying, “This is a clear example of history slipping through our fingers.”

Also buried there in one massive grave are bodies of former slaves who were sent to Carbondale for medical care, but died of smallpox instead.

Carlton Smith, a veteran of the Vietnam War and Carbondale resident, spoke about the African-American experience in the military. Smith used this country’s history of war to show the youth that black history is American history. “The Civil War, Vietnam, Pearl Harbor, the Persian Gulf, and now the war on terrorism, we know these places because we were there, and we bled,” Smith said.

After the ceremony at the cemetery, the march was led back to the church, where children of the community performed a dance routine and put on skit, which showed how Harriet Tubman, with the help of Fredrick Douglass, led eight runaway slaves through the Underground Railroad into Canada. The dance incorporated modern moves with African tribal dances. In the routine, the children waved their arms in the air like the wings of a butterfly to represent freedom.

Each year, between the dates of June 13 and 19, communities across America come together to teach history and celebrate the future of African-American culture. Juneteenth is observed as a state holiday in Texas. On June 19, 1865, General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with a message saying, “The People of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free …” In acknowledgement of that liberating moment, African Americans now celebrate Juneteenth. There is presently a movement in Washington to make the event a national holiday.

“Because knowledge is a powerful tool, we must spread our historical roots for the benefit of future generations,” Mayberry said, in hopes that one day Juneteenth will be recognized officially nationwide. “Juneteenth is one way of doing just that.”