Juneteenth
Special thanks to the following funders for this important project. Ameri Health CommUnity Zone Degenstein Foundation Genetti Hotel and Suites Lycoming North Central Signs Doug Orbaker Judy Peeler United way |
The CommUnity Zone is proud to partner with the Lycoming Tri-County NAACP to celebrate Juneteenth each year on June 19th!
The CommUnity Zone is once again pleased to announce that we had our second regional Juneteenth celebration in Williamsport for 2022. We did this event in partnership with the Lycoming Tri-County NAACP. The three counties referenced in the NAACP unit name are Lycoming, Clinton, and Northumberland. As we stated in our proposal, they have members who live in Union and Snyder Counties which are not otherwise served by an active NAACP unit. The CommUnity Zone serves the entire region, with programs and activities extending through Union, Snyder, Northumberland, Columbia, and Lycoming Counties to date. Our two organizations are the most broad-based of the community and organizational partners involved in the event. The Juneteenth event was scheduled for Saturday, June 18, at Brandon Park in downtown Williamsport and it was once again an amazing regional celebration, providing a draw and a beacon for racial justice awareness in north central PA. Attached is a report on the day. Following is the lineup for the day: JUNETEENTH 2022 Event Report The Lycoming Tri-County NAACP and Lewisburg CommUnity Zone Juneteenth event held on Saturday, June 18, 2022, was a success, including a donor reception at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport the Wednesday before, attended by 30 people. The schedule for the day of June 18, 2022, proceeded as planned, with a reprise of the successful Prayer Meeting at Freedom Road Cemetery in the morning and a Peace Walk led from there through the Browntown neighborhoods to Brandon Park. At the park, there were educational displays, food booths, and craft vendors as well as four hours of performance and engagement activities from the stage. Time Stage Events 12 Welcome/Opening Remarks (Mayor Slaughter, Commissioner Mirabito) 12:10 Music – “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and more (Tamaka Carter, JoAnne Henry) 12:30 Trot Fitness Interactive Demo (Nisan Trotter) 1 Spoken Word Interlude (Lisa E. Williams MC) 1:30 Umoja Pan-African Dance Performance (Lycoming College-tied dancers) 2 Honoring Our Community (Lisa E. Williams MC) 2:15 Community Activation and Engagement (Sharee Clark) 2:30 Line Dance 2:50 Spoken Word Interlude (Lisa E. Williams MC) 3:20 Interactive Pan-African Drum Circle (Jordan Golding/Umoja) 3:45 In Memoriam 3:55 Guided Meditation (Melodie Shaw) Local leaders from the African-American community, in particular NAACP Chapter President Lisa E. Williams and past-President Melodie Carter-Shaw, led the stage program and shared their wisdom and insights throughout the day, including taking the opportunity to highlight historical contributions of community members who went before. In keeping with the theme of this year’s event – Juneteenth: Living Free & Healthy – information was available about financial literacy training, social services, and various wellness opportunities. More than 50 people took part in the group fitness mini-training and more danced and sang along with the performers throughout the afternoon. In addition, there were prayer, meditation, and visualization interludes. Health is front and center for a city and region hit hard by COVID in recent years. The entire day was chronicled in photos by Jetta Harrison from Meet My Melanin. Pictures are available for review online in the Meet My Melanin album: Meet My Melanin (email required for access) The core organizing group for this year’s event was expanded to incorporate ongoing engagement from STEP AmeriCorps and the Early Learning Center as well as early outreach to supporting organizations like the YWCA, UPMC, and the Lycoming County United Way. It is estimated that 60 people were involved in making the event happen from different organizations and faith groups. The core group of 8 people were responsible for overall coordination and many others ran individual portions of the program or helped with community safety or publicity. Over the course of the day approximately 500 people came from around the city and around the region and enjoyed the community celebration. It was a day of reflection, community, and unity. A significant effort was made this year to emphasize that Juneteenth is a critical element of American history, of great importance for all who live here, not just those of African-American heritage. |
The Grandmother of Juneteenth: Opal Lee
The following originally published in AARP, June/July 2022 Edition.
"Have you ever had a gut feeling about something? I felt, positively, like I hadn’t done enough with my life. I’d finished college, gotten a master’s degree, taught school, worked as a social worker, had children. We had a farm. Our food bank served 500 families a day. I was volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. But even into my 80s, I had a nagging feeling that I should be doing more.
"And I had always thought that Juneteenth was a day everybody ought to know about: the day in 1865 when the last of the people held in bondage in Texas learned they were free. So, in 2016, I began a march from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to draw attention to Juneteenth. I didn’t walk the whole way, but I did make it to Washington. In 2019, I started a petition, and we garnered 1.5 million signatures in favor of the holiday. People talked about it. And, of course, the death of George Floyd and the demonstrations for social justice that followed have helped draw attention to the cause. The fact that Juneteenth became a national holiday in my lifetime — I’m still on cloud nine. I could do a holy dance except they’d say I was twerking!
"Older people don’t always remember this, but we have power. We have so much to teach the younger generations. I know some people are afraid. They don’t want to be bothered, or they draw into themselves. But the future depends on us. We can’t be satisfied with just having Juneteenth made into law. We’ve got joblessness, homelessness, health care, climate change. If we don’t address these things, nobody’s going to. We have to educate, because the books don’t always tell the truth. I’ve seen pictures in textbooks of Black folks picking cotton, and they almost looked like they were enjoying themselves. I picked cotton, and ain’t nothing enjoyable about it. You have to stand up and say, “These things cannot happen anymore.”
"Lately, you hear talk about our differences, but under our skin we are the same. We bleed red blood, all of us. Freedom isn’t something just for Black people to celebrate. It’s for everybody. I’d like to see our country celebrate freedom from Juneteenth to the Fourth of July. Now that would be a celebration! If each one of us could convince one person who’s not on the same page, we could do it. It’s not gonna happen in a day or a week. We have to work on it. Slowly. Persistently. That’s how change happens."
The following originally published in AARP, June/July 2022 Edition.
"Have you ever had a gut feeling about something? I felt, positively, like I hadn’t done enough with my life. I’d finished college, gotten a master’s degree, taught school, worked as a social worker, had children. We had a farm. Our food bank served 500 families a day. I was volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. But even into my 80s, I had a nagging feeling that I should be doing more.
"And I had always thought that Juneteenth was a day everybody ought to know about: the day in 1865 when the last of the people held in bondage in Texas learned they were free. So, in 2016, I began a march from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to draw attention to Juneteenth. I didn’t walk the whole way, but I did make it to Washington. In 2019, I started a petition, and we garnered 1.5 million signatures in favor of the holiday. People talked about it. And, of course, the death of George Floyd and the demonstrations for social justice that followed have helped draw attention to the cause. The fact that Juneteenth became a national holiday in my lifetime — I’m still on cloud nine. I could do a holy dance except they’d say I was twerking!
"Older people don’t always remember this, but we have power. We have so much to teach the younger generations. I know some people are afraid. They don’t want to be bothered, or they draw into themselves. But the future depends on us. We can’t be satisfied with just having Juneteenth made into law. We’ve got joblessness, homelessness, health care, climate change. If we don’t address these things, nobody’s going to. We have to educate, because the books don’t always tell the truth. I’ve seen pictures in textbooks of Black folks picking cotton, and they almost looked like they were enjoying themselves. I picked cotton, and ain’t nothing enjoyable about it. You have to stand up and say, “These things cannot happen anymore.”
"Lately, you hear talk about our differences, but under our skin we are the same. We bleed red blood, all of us. Freedom isn’t something just for Black people to celebrate. It’s for everybody. I’d like to see our country celebrate freedom from Juneteenth to the Fourth of July. Now that would be a celebration! If each one of us could convince one person who’s not on the same page, we could do it. It’s not gonna happen in a day or a week. We have to work on it. Slowly. Persistently. That’s how change happens."
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