The city of Mexico celebrated Juneteenth this past weekend with everything wrapping up Monday night at the St. Luke United Methodist Church with a celebration that included food, fellowship, and …
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The city of Mexico celebrated Juneteenth this past weekend with everything wrapping up Monday night at the St. Luke United Methodist Church with a celebration that included food, fellowship, and singing.
“People from every nation,” event emcee Ayanna Shivers said. “That’s what the essence of Juneteenth is, people from every nation being free.”
The celebration started with messages from not only the church’s pastor but pastors from other UMC churches in town. Those in attendance were treated to a special dance performance from Alexis Cockrell that was emotional from beginning to end.
The night was also full of music and singing by a community choir that got together a few hours before to rehearse the songs. Shrivers, Mexico’s former mayor, joked about the lack of preparation.
“We’ve seen how God can move,” Shivers said. “It doesn’t take all day and it doesn’t take lots of practice.”
Shivers also talked about why we celebrate Juneteenth and not get lost on a certain date or famous speech. Many of us were taught about the Emancipation Proclamation and Abraham Lincoln but had little if any knowledge about Juneteenth. Admittedly your author is one of those people.
The Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on Jan. 1, 1863, but it wasn’t until well after the Confederate states surrendered that slaves in the South were freed. Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, to inform the last people still being held in slavery their freedom had come.
“I’ll never know what it’s like to have someone say I belong to them and have to take whatever is given to me,” Shivers said. “I’ll never know. But that’s why it’s so important that we celebrate.”
Shivers also talked about the pan-African flag that is associated with Juneteenth and what the colors of the flag, black, red, and green symbolize. Black is for the people who came from Africa as slaves. Red symbolizes the bloodshed not only during slavery but also during the Jim Crow era through the Civil Rights Movement to today. Green symbolizes the fertility and resources the people brought with them from the motherland.
“Today I thank each and everyone of you who came out to celebrate our freedom because it’s no one's freedom until it’s everyone’s freedom,” Shivers said.
Shivers noted what great things can happen when people want to come together.
“This has been an amazing Juneteenth celebration,” Shivers said. “When we come together, what a wonderful time it is.”
