Walking toward Founder’s Hall on Northwestern Michigan University’s campus Wednesday evening was an experience for the senses.
Signs announcing “Juneteenth: Freedom Day!’ and explaining the celebration’s history lined the sidewalk. People gathered in the clearing in the wooded area where the music could be felt as well as heard, the bass reverberating through the air.
The celebration of Juneteenth by the organization E3 commemorated the day that word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas. That news liberated the last of the enslaved people there.
“I want people to really understand the historical piece of Juneteenth, and that it is the Freedom Day, it is America’s true Freedom Day for everyone, not just a select few,” said Marshall Collins, a council member of E3.
This was the fifth annual Juneteenth celebration in Traverse City – and Collins said attendance has only gone up. He estimated that more than 150 people attended the event Wednesday.
“For me, it’s a true blessing to be able to provide this celebration of freedom day to our community,” he said.
E3 gave back to the community at the celebration, announcing six scholarship winners. Each scholarship of $1,000 was specifically for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students. The winners were: Izabella Craker, Nameth Kennedy, Johneric Mendoza, Daniel Resendiz-Nunez, Keeley TwoCrow, Miaja Williams.
Izabella Craker will be the first in her biological family to go to college. She said her plan is to study film and art at Northern Michigan University.
“To me, it means that I can put that towards my education,” Craker said. “It’s nice to know my community supports me, and I want to set an example.”
For some, this was the first Juneteenth celebration they had ever attended – that included closing speaker Esther Triggs.
Triggs is the director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at Interlochen Center for the Arts. She urged the audience to consider Juneteenth as it relates to the community, as an opportunity to learn even when it’s uncomfortable.
“I always remind people to lean into that moment of discomfort, because it only lasts a moment, and it leads to more understanding,” she said.
It also was the first Juneteenth celebration for Raye Hendrickson, who said she learned what Juneteenth means in 2018. It wasn’t part of the curriculum when she was in school, she pointed out.
“I think (schools are) really falling short when it comes to the American history that they would rather keep hidden,” Hendrickson said.
Collins said he wants people to understand that even though legalized slavery ended, Black communities still struggle with hardship.
Historical speaker Isiah Smith urged people to move forward.
Smith said focusing too much on those horrible acts of the past can poison a person’s life.
“I was born and raised in Blakely, Georgia, which if you didn’t know, is known as the meanest town in America. It’s got a reputation for racism.
"I was born to a teenage mother with few resources,” Smith said.
He worked from sunup to sundown picking cotton for pennies a day, but it was empowering to take control of his own life when he could.
“We (all) have psychological imprints of the past," Smith said, "but I refuse to let it control me, hold me back.”
