Slash, whiplash! That sound on black skin, making all the others fall in line, slavery of a different kind.
The “Lonestar State” served slavery on a unique plate, promising greater social interaction, and opportunities for escape. Slaves could flee to Mexico, when they had nowhere else to go.
Galveston Texas offered demanding maritime and domestic labor with less interaction from an overseer. Texas was the home of the largest human auction house sans the South.
The Union army worked tirelessly for the country to be united, and never again divided. While the Confederate army fought against the States to uphold slavery, until 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation set slaves free.
Twenty five percent of the Union army consisted of immigrants from Germany, Ireland, and Canada, fighting alongside both freedmen and escaped slaves; all to preserve a more perfect union, the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
Two years later, Order #3 was openly announced in Texas by General Granger in 1865, two years after that, General Lee died of a stroke. I guess so, over 250,000 Texan slaves were set free; giving way to the celebration of the Day of Jubilee in 1866, three years after 1863.
Galvestonian slaves came together to eat watermelon, pray, recite the Emancipation Proclamation drink hibiscus tea, and to remember ancestral bloodshed, hence the importance of the color red.
Like our West African, and Caribbean kin, the Juneteenth flag, dawns the crimson stain, reminding all Pan-African people of our pain. The red arch speaks to all people of a new day and hope for the future, making one thing crystal clear. The celebration of Juneteenth will always be here. Juneteenth became a national holiday in 2021 by the 46th president of the United States, encouraging us to remember that some blessings must unfortunately come extremely late.
Poem Read by Michelle C. H. Wyatt on Sound Cloud
