The recent heat wave has brought high temperatures and humid air. This did not stop Mount Pleasant residents from celebrating Central Michigan University's Juneteenth gathering on Wednesday.
Juneteenth commemorates the day when slaves in Texas, the most western part of the former Confederate states, were told of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19th, 1865. The famous Proclamation was originally proclaimed on January 1, 1863.
Despite being celebrated across the nation since that history day in 1865, Juneteenth only became a federal holiday in 2021.
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“It's a matter of personal history and legacy, heritage and where we come from as a country. It's important to me because it provides the opportunity for us to use the holiday to do good and promote community and more justice throughout the world,” said Danny McQuarters Jr.
“I’m Black in America and I just feel like the police brutality going on in 2020, the fact that they pushed so hard for this holiday to be an official holiday is something that means the most to me. It makes me feel like black elevation is being elevated. I feel like I am black excellence. It's nice to have a day to celebrate black excellence,” said Kiyanna Johnson.
“Duty is important to me. As I grew older, I realized the significance of it now, especially as a person of color in modern day America we have had various issues revolving social justice topics. It's a freedom thing. It's just, like expressing who I am. Being unapologetic about it. It's a chance for a chance, for education, for others I can be like, especially for newer freshman coming in, who have probably never heard of Juneteenth,” said Cristiano Bermudez, a graduate student at CMU.
Their traditions and recollections of past celebrations all surrounded two concepts: community and history.
“I try to read up on some literature, try to find out a new fact or a new person in history that I've never heard of before. Or, I have heard of but didn't know a lot about. I try to really double down on my black history,” McQuarters said.
“I would do a cookout sometimes with my friends or I would kind of go out to other cities. Sometimes they'll have like gatherings going on, and just because it's just nice to have people that look like me to kind of understand, like what's going on and stuff like that and just to celebrate being independent,” Johnson said.
“It's typical within like my culture, especially growing up, that it kind of would look something like this with a little get together cookout. It's more so the element of togetherness. So anytime we celebrated in the past, it would always be like family get together or friends get together. It was always just that element of togetherness which I feel like is the real embrace of Juneteenth because it's that's what it's all about. It's about unity, and it's about being stronger together,” said Bermudez.
