Texana – While Americans celebrated freedom last week with annual Fourth of July celebrations nationwide, locally another group of Americans celebrated the final “declaration of independence” on June 15 at the Texana Community Center.
Known officially as Juneteenth National Independence Day and also as Black Independence Day, Emancipation Day in Texas, Freedom Day and Jubilee Day – and signed into federal law as a national holiday in 2021 – the celebration is rooted in Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger’s final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas on June 19, 1865, when slaves still held in bondage in the state were formally made aware of the freedoms granted them by the document.
Coordinated by Veleda Jackson and Mark Pickens, along with many volunteers from the community, the 12-hour festival took place from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and had everything from live music by reggae favorites Milele Roots to food trucks including Pop’s Big Cheese Wagon, local vendors including Journee77 Boutique, fresh homemade meals from civic groups and individuals, and a vintage and classic car show.
The annual Texana celebration began with a welcome and remarks from Murphy Mayor Tim Radford urging young people in Cherokee County to see the Texana community’s ability to thrive through involvement. He also gave a long list of Texana’s contributions to Murphy and Cherokee County.
Speaker Ann Miller Woodford likened the community to “a quilt. A rich and complex tapestry with histories recorded and preserved.”
Woodford went on to describe the importance of Texana’s accomplishments in education, politics, public service and religion to the area by citing examples of local residents who’ve contributed in each of these areas.
Michelle Lloyd presented two interpretive dances, accompanied by Farrah Hall Eller, that told inspirational stories through dance of the perseverance of both the African-American community in America at-large and the more local impacts of pride in heritage.
Zula Cox told Texana tales of midwives and the old high school, and how the community would gather for church with everyone preparing food and sharing among the community – even for those who had little or none.
Cox also described how families in Texana participated in communally raising every young child, keeping close eyes on wandering children, with each child knowing that any adult nearby had authority over them to keep them check if there was “even a hint or whiff of mischief around.”
She also told those stories of bootleggers and juke joints, of how sometimes when you walked by the graveyard you were somehow “accompanied by a shadow, and you knew to get home soon.”
Cox ended her storytelling with the idea that somehow those days were lost when integration happened because the tight-knit community was forced to enter a larger world that didn’t have close connections and that led to a scattering of histories, of the importance of family and community, and how everyone knew that while “Texana may have looked down on Murphy, but Murphy looked up to Texana.”
Local law enforcement agencies made presentations as well, including Cherokee County Sheriff Dustin Smith, who shared his personal testimony of faith and how he sees the Texana community as a beacon of hope in uncertain times. Murphy Police Chief Tim Lominac shared his thrill of rekindling friendships with people in the community after many years away from the area, and he reiterated law enforcement’s attention to the importance of our freedoms and commitment to protecting every one of those for all individuals and communities.
In another storytelling portion, Connie Powell spoke and gave a visual presentation discussing the importance of knowing your lineage and how our DNA makes us “each a part of one another.”
Powell also chronicled much of her own research and described the diaspora that occurred in Texana as many families made their way North when textile and other industries left the area. She also encouraged amateur genealogists to pursue research of their families.
Although there is sometimes a lack of documentation, she shared with people how to use the internet to their advantage when searching for ancestors including scouring military records, which are often overlooked since, as she reminded the crowd many times, African-Americans were considered “sub-human or only three-fifths.”
Powell left the audience with a call to be an inspiration to younger generations, particularly youth still living in Texana and Cherokee County, by helping them “discover their roots to keep our tree alive and healthy and further its capability of branching out.”
Pastor Charles Lee of Liberty Baptist Church in Sylva gave the keynote speech with a recounting of the story of Granger entering Galveston in June 1865 to announce that all those enslaved were freed – and actually had been for two and a half years – but even more particularly since the surrender at Appomattox, Va., in April that year.
He went on to quote Micah 6:8, which tells of how God has shown man that the only requirements of the Lord are “to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God” and avowed how it is up to us, all of us, to finish the work and to not abandon it – although we may find it difficult sometimes in this world.
Lee continued praising God for deliverance from bondage and how the Juneteenth celebration is for that purpose, to acknowledge the Creator as every people’s liberation and salvation.
Lee also closed with an admonition that these celebrations are a call to share God’s word of light “in a current culture that strays so far from brotherly love,” and that these instances are one of the great reminders of the bonds created by family and community even through adversity.
After the program everyone enjoyed free ice cream treats and a misting tent provided by One Dozen Who Care along with fans from ODWC and local State Farm agent Steven Aft, which helped with the early summer heat.
Jackson and Pickens are already planning next year’s event to be even bigger and better.
Details: Watch a video from the event at youtu.be/DYgWiXuHf4M?feature=
shared.