Juneteenth:1865-2021

general order number three the juneteenth order the people of texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation from the executive of the united states all slaves are free this involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between an employer and hired labor you can imagine the burden lifted from these people the men the women the children that knew that they were shallow property and now understanding that they were free but the question that was lingering was what did freedom look like the slaves built this country they had a sense of who they were they very quickly built a sense of community to what degree have we actually achieved the absolute freedom that june teen promised ignoring these painful histories doesn't mean that they don't still influence us we stand on the shoulders of those that came before us and we need to honor their memory by telling their story juneteenth 1865-2021 [Music] galveston texas a place known for tourism and quick getaways but it's the history which happened here that impacts us all today african slaves were brought here on ships in the 1800s but even after the slave trade ended slavery here did not it was 1865 june 19th now known as juneteenth when union soldiers arrived and told slaves they were free it came two years after president abraham lincoln announced slavery had ended in the united states and we should remember this important date june 19 1865 represents the evolution of our country to a more perfect union we were not perfect in 1528 1619 1776 1865 or even the day in 2021 but we're moving hopefully to a more perfect union juneteenth is directly related to the history of the civil war and the emancipation of enslaved people in the confederacy juneteenth is important for texas because that is when enslaved texans learned they were free and that the confederacy had fallen so we're standing in the 2200 block of the strand historic district in galveston this was the heart of the commercial district and at one time was the largest city in texas the largest enslaver also lived here in galveston they owned seven plantations four in brazoria county two in matagorda county and one in fort bend texas was this safe haven for slavery they did what they call the running of the slaves that was basically moving their slaves to texas because there was no union presence in texas when lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation he knew that that would not immediately end slavery and it didn't and the reason is fairly simple the confederate states of america had formed its own country they elected their own president confederate states printed their own money which is why the confederacy and the united states went to war the united states goal at the beginning of the war was just to restore the union the first war goal was not to emancipate the enslaved population and there were all these myths and stories about what happened and why it took two and a half years for the world to reach texas plantation owners in texas were well aware of the emancipation proclamation but they ignored it what they cared about was maintaining the agrarian economy in texas and that was solidly based on cotton and to maintain that they needed slave labor general gordon granger was on his way to texas most of the texas authorities had a pretty good idea what he was coming to texas to do granger was in texas for about a month he sent his troops there were white soldiers and black soldiers plantation to plantation making the announcement those black soldiers are people who especially helped shift the union war goals from a war to restore the union into a war of emancipation it was personal for them they went over to the old custom house on 20th street to the courthouse square from the courthouse square to the colored church on broadway which was read each other some of the dock workers were among the first to get the word and so the celebrations begin give us a sense of what it must have been like for slaves on juneteenth when they heard that message you know that was something that was almost like going to heaven the celebrations just to be so excited to to taste that that freedom the initial celebrations there would be prayer services looking back at our journey in this country and what we had to endure in bondage and the people the people who never lived to see that day i think it's inescapable not to remember those people transatlantic voyage the middle passage people jumping off ships to avoid the treatment that they would have to endure [Music] you know my didn't tell you know it was free did that tell you man no he didn't kill them i think now they said it wake them six months out of that six months and turn them loose on the 19th of june that's why you know you celebrate that day colors celebrate that day one of the quotes that that i'm most fond of is from a former slave named felix heywood slavery could make you free but it couldn't make you rich because a lot of slaves thought that now that they were free they would be rich just like the white man you think about the elation the trepidation of enslaved people not knowing what their future holds and being enslaved and bondage be being lifted from their backs and there was one narrative about one slave who got the word and his sister said brother gave a whoop and and ran away and i never saw him again was the south ready to free slaves no we know that even though the order indicated enslave were free if you look at the last sentence it gives them instructions of what they can and cannot do the freed men are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages they are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere when you're told you're free you're thinking that oh i can live my life but it wasn't like that on one hand you were free by name but the actual reality of freedom you were not fully experiencing it there were a lot of very frightened former slaves and a lot of them stayed on the plantation they laid the bricks in the downtown area here where we we stand on many of these buildings not only laid the bricks but made the bricks [Music] just off galveston's bustling broadway street is ashton villa built in 1859 by james moreau brown a loyalist to the confederacy dubbed an honorary colonel brown was also a wealthy banker architect and mason who designed what's believed to be texas first all brick house a palace with bricks all laid by slaves [Music] anywhere you read they will tell you that you know slaves did all the work for this they had to follow what the contractor was either telling them or showing them in order to do it and look at this place it's beautiful all of the intricacies and the detail that still stand today it's amazing 1859 one of the few buildings that withstood the 1900 storm ashton villa was saved from demolition in 1970 the historic home now an event space is operated by the galveston historical foundation and home to the island's annual juneteenth celebration [Music] [Music] they could leave the farm they could leave the plantation and they did because so many emancipated people no longer wanted to work in agriculture because it reminded them of enslavement for many people the draw was labor the opportunity to earn wages working to pay off debt the debts were never paid off there were a lot of things that still kept the free people suppressed suppressed that's why a group of them ended up in your hometown in houston so they marched to houston the black population of houston boomed they began to build homes in the part of houston known as fourth ward houston was divided into six different wards at the time and so the land in that area of fourth ward happened to be very low and flood prone it wasn't land that was coveted by white houstonians at the time when you look at the the bricks of friedman's town that brick is a symbol of foundation that brick was a symbol of hope the brick was theirs they made the brick they formed the brick shaped the brick they laid the brick they stood on the brick iconic housing of friedman's town was the shotgun house there was a door in the front and then a door in the back and people would joke that if you shot a gun the bullet would travel all the way through without hitting anything the legendary jack yates this is the land where he lived and right next door to him was his son the printer rutherford b h yates the first time i walked along these these bricks i was very emotional this is where my people decided that they would survive these are eight pound bricks that were double baked and the significance of these bricks is that it has that beautiful red color of the clay that was here the fact that they are still here today is a testament to their strength a testament to their craftsmanship and their skill no these are original i reside here in freedman's town i was born in friedmanstown probably conceived in friedmanstown and this is a home that has been passed down through our family i'm like the fifth generation and the family operated a ice business and just drove through the community selling blocks of ice they did their best to gain property and to support their communities the wards in houston functioned a little bit like small towns third ward develops a black community fifth ward develops one early the black community of third ward begins to develop around what we today call emancipation avenue but that back then was dowling street which was actually the name of a confederate dowling is really the center of old black third ward and one of the reasons for that is the creation or the purchase of emancipation park and it's the first public space owned by black people in the state of texas with newfound freedom came new challenges including the fight to be seen as equal freed men and women did more than survive they built a legacy and it is right here emancipation park in houston's historic third ward emancipation park was always a place to celebrate two black church congregations fund raised to buy the park for them the memory of juneteenth would have been very fresh they were someone else's property less than a decade earlier i'm the great great granddaughter of jack yates he was instrumental in purchasing emancipation park where the free slaves celebrated juneteenth one of the most famous families in reconstruction era houston were the yates family he was free however his wife and children weren't so he came to texas and entered back into slavery so that he could be with his family they were brought here to continue to be slaves once freedom came again he knew what that tasted like he knew what that felt like so he took his family and moved to houston to start a brand new life jack yates actually began helping and teaching and helping them to learn because at that time you know slaves weren't supposed to read or write he was a wage laborer as his day job and at night preach near the buffalo bayou in houston and then gradually they were able to build their own church i'm a member of antioch missionary baptist church and have been all of my life that was the first church that he started but there were many other churches that he started including bethel in houston it is that spirit it is that zeal it is that determination that he and others poured into the foundations when they built this church so when you talk about world war one our soldiers went off to fight when they came home antioch was able to train and cross train uh ex-veterans in masonry work in carpentry work and really help these ex-soldiers to find jobs and to provide homes for their families education for their children it was these very women from this very church who taught other women how to vote so so many great people have been here and have been inspiring and galvanizing the community when i was growing up in houston i knew the name yates because it was the name of a high school jackie ate high school in third ward the first flex school in houston for a while had just been called houston colored high school as the black community spreads and grows in other parts of the city you need more schools so when a second high school is established in houston in third ward it's named after jack yates [Music] a massive mural in galveston's tourist heavy strand district depicts the long journey to absolute equality expand the narrative of june 10 to tell a more full story of our shared american history the things that have been invisible or become invisible and the stories that have been hidden are being discovered galveston historical foundation member and hitchcock-born businessman sam collins made it his business to have galveston's history on display i met with him at the mural an art installation that sam wanted to use to paint a better picture of juneteenth giving it depth dating it back to centuries before the emancipation of slaves artist and activist reginald adams brought the vision to life with detailed vignettes featuring historic figures and then he moves through the middle passage the enslaved africans being sold by other africans harriet tubman is an iconic female image on the mural then you have abraham lincoln emancipation proclamation the soldiers have a very prominent place within this mural there are more soldiers than anyone else here on the mural it seems like the united states colored troops represent 75 percent of the union forces that came into texas nowhere in the history books when i was in elementary junior high high school or even college did anybody teach me that colored troops helped bring the message of freedom here just beyond the mural and at the end of the same lot side of the old ostermann building and where general granger signed the orders and dispersed the troops to post them is the juneteenth historical marker from the texas historical commission and i thought how can that be one of the most historic events in american history didn't have a subject marker sam collins spent two years fundraising and organizing efforts to secure one one of the things that i've worked to do is not to take away from what has already been told but to add to it this corner has now been transformed into an outdoor classroom we're going to use technology to teach this history through augmented reality point their smartphone at the mural using the uncover everything app and videos will pop up to expand the story so that they can learn more my girl hair yet and showing all the things that black people have been going through and to be able to get the shackles off it all came together to create this beautiful mosaic of historian artists technology visitors tourists people all of that creates a beautiful picture of the expansion of knowledge information the history and a lot of times they don't talk about that in the history class so we got to get them in the picture not just him by so there we go his spirit and actions are one in the same starting with the marker and now this mural hopefully individuals will wake up a desire for self-discovery and discovery of history that maybe was not taught in the classroom so now they come to the outdoor classroom [Music] [Music] some of the early juneteenth celebrations were marked by pageantry flowers and people riding in in these very elaborate coach setups regional and local black newspapers celebrating the day you'll see announcements about picnics that are related to the holiday a lot of people for those celebrations dressed up in their sunday best they would just be joyful there would be parties church services you know and a lot of the communities whites didn't want to recognize those celebrations if some of those former slaves had jobs they couldn't get the day off to celebrate a lot of the city officials said well you you can't have your celebration in the city and so that would push those celebrations out away from the city in rural settings and pastures meadows you know groves wherever they went with the flow i guess my earliest memories of celebrating juneteenth would be when i was a child juneteenth was always a big celebration in our community eventually you'll see the establishment of parades we know in houston we do have a couple of parades in fact juneteenth queen and king family get-togethers community get-togethers you would have barbecue watermelon ribs and hot sausage red soda pop those were the staples you had to have all of that on june 10. you must have that barbecue in recent years juneteenth celebrations continue to include parades and music but most importantly a focus on the food and one restaurant that continues to provide juneteenth meals even amidst the pandemic is loose seals feeding all the people they can this fine dining houston establishment home to a culinary artist carrying on the family's legacy of african-american excellence in gastronomy this museum district restaurant is loose seals it is where the past meets the present on a plate restaurant itself is named after owner and executive chef chris williams great grandmother lucille b smith often noted as texas first african-american businesswoman she created the first instant hot roll mix in the history of this country which is a recipe that pillsbury borrowed to create their empire this is verified by the chicago tribune in 2014 she um was the first national african-american food editor for sepia magazine which is now ebony magazine her client list included everybody from lbj to the roosevelt's martin luther king muhammad ali to joe lewis all points in between chef williams continues the family legacy having hosted president biden but it is not just the powerful or whom he hosts or prepares food for so we provide service to all the historically black neighborhoods from sunnyside the third ward to fifth ward to acres home having founded the non-profit lucille's 1913. the year his great-grandmother birthed her catering business and also the same year marking the 50th anniversary of the emancipation proclamation at our peak we are doing 1800 mills a day so i had a pork shoulder that i braised for about four hours allows them to play with a ton of different ingredients this juneteenth he'll prepare more meals the barbecue chicken the beans on top of the already 250 000 meals served and that's what we're working on right now for the menu for today getting ready to feed the people of houston delivering dignity and preserving history the restaurant does pay homage to her culinary freedom and creativity as a chef with fresh elevated food that's exactly what we do over today at lucille's southern cuisine with global influences the word reconstruction sounds good and it started out well-intentioned but it didn't stay quote-unquote reconstruction did it no when we think about the period of reconstruction particularly here in texas we all always have to think about the turmoil around politics the democratic party was conservative the republican party was liberal 1870 15th amendment is what makes black men's right to vote constitutional and this changes the political landscape of parts of the south that had large black populations black men start voting other black men into office some places had black sheriffs so this immediately changes the politics of the south so the ku klux klan arises as the violent wing of the democratic party we were familiar with the kkk but there were a number of white vigilante groups that existed during this time that terrorized african americans by the early 1900s the black community had already established itself with neighborhoods businesses and schools but blacks still weren't considered as equal with segregation and jim crow laws they were still being treated like second-class citizens segregation laws restricted every public space where southerners could possibly make contact when we say jim crow law we're referring to legal segregation boston creates segregation laws in order to separate black and white passengers on city street cars in the 1840s people in boston started to refer to the black section of street cars as the jim crow section they did that because jim crow referred to a popular minstrel figure early on it was white performers typically white men who would blacken their faces using burnt cork but jim crow was the most popular blackface minstrel character so popular that many white people in the united states began to identify the name jim crow with black people here in houston you really can't think about jim crow laws without thinking about the 24th infantry african-american soldiers who found themselves here at camp logan and found themselves the victims of police brutality and jim crow laws and segregation right you're absolutely right in the summer of 1917 the united states enters world war one the u.s military was still segregated the military was constructing a training facility called camp logan so when these 700 black soldiers show up in houston jim crow is is alive and well it's and you got to remember it's a new thing and these soldiers had fought in the spanish american war and gone up san juan hill had fought in the philippines they weren't they weren't used to being treated as second-class citizens it all came to a head that august when houston police officers were accused of attacking and killing one of the soldiers black soldiers of camp logan then marched from what's now memorial park to the city of houston this was a push against jim crow authority mutiny and rioting ensued it was a strike against police brutality 16 white people were killed mostly civilians four black soldiers died the deadly encounter led to the soldier's court martial the largest murder trial in u.s history i saw the photograph of the of the trial that blew my mind here are these 63 black soldiers surrounded by white soldiers with fixed bayonets on their rifles and captain said the largest murder trial in american history and i had never heard anything about this nothing in the end 19 soldiers were hanged and all but eight of 118 soldiers charged were convicted for their part in the houston riot of 1917. the police force of southern cities would send certain police officers to patrol black communities slave patrols in many parts of the south literally become police forces whose job it is to then police newly formed black communities plantations ultimately turn to prisons with slave labor giving way to prison labor all across texas including sugar land this building is actually 80 years old it was originally a prison and part of the texas prison system it was an extension of the central state prison farm the big brick building known as two camp opened in 1939 it was a prison population of color primarily african-american some hispanic the inmates worked the fields of the state-run farm an inmate recalled that upon arriving at two camp in 1960 he was immediately ushered out into the fields to pick cotton at the end of a grueling day workers would return to the dormitory where life was often just as hard they lived in very close quarters actually in very hot conditions and very cold conditions its occupants are mostly children now but for 30 years this structure housed inmates [Music] did you know the freedom tree in missouri city is where slaves at the palmer plantation were notified they were free they were told they could continue working the land but their only form of payment would be a share of their crop the freedom tree is located along misty hollow drive that's between glen lakes and lake olympia boulevards walter moses burton was a farmer sheriff and politician who served four terms in the texas state senate burton was born into slavery in north carolina and brought to texas when he was 21. after emancipation he bought land in fortman county and was eventually elected the first black sheriff in the country are you registered to vote no i'm not i have tried twice and i was turned down both times lost my job you had jim crow laws you had poll taxes and slowly you see things that are going backwards so the first way you see a push against black political organizing is through the clan thousands of people would sometimes show up to watch a crowd of people lynch burn and mutilate in some cases black bodies the people who were lynched were usually people who stood up for themselves economically or politically [Music] self-styled so-called militias were using violence to subdue black voters by the 1890s enough violent intimidation had happened that you have white democrats returning to power in states across the former confederacy the fact that we're still struggling with attempts to disfranchise voters shows exactly why we have to look at segregation as this multi-pronged attack on equality dr martin luther king's second day of civil rights testing in selma alabama started off smoothly enough but when the would-be registrants and those who accompanied them arrived at the dallas county courthouse it was a different story segregation was labeled separate but equal but was far from it religious leaders like dr martin luther king jr fred shuttleworth and houston's reverend bill lawson began to help in protest against it the movement spreads across the south students at texas southern university especially begin to boycott and then gain allies in some cases from white students from nearby colleges 13 of them to be precise on march 4th 1960 they marched but they went to the lunch counters at the wine gardens on almeda and they sat and they sat and so they initiated the civil rights movement in houston texas the support and mentorship of reverend lawson and other folks was especially significant because in some cases the older generation sometimes agreed more with the strategies of the naacp who were using the courts and using the law because it's important to remember that technically sit-ins are illegal they know that what they are doing could potentially put them in danger they're thinking about the injustices that their parents have faced that their relatives face they're thinking about the injustice that they themselves are facing in a world that is supposed to be separate and equal but is everything but [Music] [Applause] equal well historically black colleges and universities their history is related to the fact that our nation was not ready for people of african descent to study with white americans preview a m is a direct result of juneteenth those individuals who heard that message that day they went forth with the zeal and the fervor to realize what an education could do for emancipated blacks most importantly now you have individuals who could not read who could not write that came and got remedial lessons here and could go back out into their communities to be productive people [Music] i chose tsu because there was a sense of belonging that i felt when i walked on the campus it felt like family it felt like home and it gave me a feeling of purpose and that i was destined to be here for a specific reason and we know that prayerview produces productive people and that's one of the mottos here at this school and it's very much tied back to that same group that first generation who came here who studied who thrived and sought to make their communities better and as a little girl to me the building hannah hall was colossal little did i know that one day i would have the opportunity to teach at this school this institution has been a beacon of light to people in the community when it came to primary education the gregory institute became the high school for houston's black children in the 1870s at one point it was the only high school for black students in 1871 harris county had the largest number of black students in school in texas with 734 males and 760 females the gregory school is now home to the african-american library [Music] after years of fighting and debate betsy ross elementary became the first public school in houston to integrate the year 1960 but even as the houston school district began to eliminate segregation there was pushback from white parents as shown here in a 1970 new york times article [Music] you know it's really amazing how this area this park has blossomed and transformed in this community it is uh incredible when you think about the history of emancipation park you know there was a time when this was the only park that blacks in houston could come to and today we've seen people of all colors here all colors all races all religions enjoying the city enjoying the park together yeah a park for all a park for all what do you think your great grandfather who purchased this property to create emancipation park would think of what is happening on this site today i'm sure he probably never thought about would this be continued 100 years later 150 years later but i think he would be extremely proud to know that the citizens of houston texas have continued to celebrate the juneteenth emancipation park remains a pillar in the black community just as it did when it opened in 1872 from playgrounds basketball courts a theater and the arts it celebrates a rich history while educating the next generation but getting that education in schools has not been easy i think it's just a history that some people are still so uncomfortable talking about we always knew what juneteenth was uh the rest of the country did not uh juneteenth isn't taught in american history juneteenth isn't taught in our school in our public school system i guess within the last 30 years that i've learned really about a lot about juneteenth attending segregated schools we just didn't have a lot of information about slavery and if it was presented it was presented in such a watered down way we knew the significance of galveston to juneteenth of the freeing of the slaves juneteenth is so important and it's funny i didn't learn about it fully until i got to college and at this hbcu that i learned about it as a former long-time educator how important is that for students to be presented that information in their general education it's america's history we hear the stories of immigrants coming to the united states we hear about why they wanted to leave or why they want to be here and everything that happens in the united states is united states history all americans need to understand when and how slaves were freed in the state of texas i know that in my own class when i'm teaching in the summer i make sure that we do a focus on juneteenth and we celebrate the day so that students are aware of the significance of the day and also of the significance of tsu in continuing the message of gmt it's a huge problem not teaching youth about the history when you go back and you say this didn't happen then a young person will be like oh so what's their problem that never happened so then you create more of a division between cultures i think telling our story is is very important so if you only get one perspective all the time you're just missing all those other all those other shades of meaning all those other perspectives the catalyst for my mother writing her book island of color where juneteen started is that she remembered and found a journal that her grandfather had kept after he would say his prayers he would write in this journal he was writing about african-american history going back to when he first came here in 1865. i think it's a treasure trove of information knowing one's legacy i think provides a sense of being grounded a sense of belonging it is actually foundational to our entire country because of its history of slavery [Music] even though things are better but there's so much more work to do with the george floyd protests probably more americans came together of all races and groups that have come together in this country in a long time really since the civil rights movement more americans came together the 2020 murder of houston native george floyd and the conviction of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin led to global protests and reignited the conversation of police reform you saw white you saw asian you saw hispanic along with black screaming at the top of their voices that black lives do matter this bill is a bill that will speak to the hearts and minds of those who have been harmed by wrong kind of policing standards and quickly it will end racial profiling it will provide training for the eighteen thousand police departments it will ensure that there is a standard for excessive force no more a duty to intervene the house of representatives passed the george floyd justice in policing act in june of 2020 but as of june 2021 it has not passed the senate do you remember when juneteenth became a state holiday in texas yes under the direction of uh state representative al edwards he worked very hard to get it to become a state holiday i am so delighted to be in galveston again i'm overwhelmed at you young people who are willing to help us make juneteenth a national holiday may 31st 2021 94 year old opal lee joined by a crowd with the juneteenth flag in tow doing her part to push for federal recognition of the historic day but i'm gonna make this two and a half mile trick i'm going to keep on walking i'm going to keep on talking to jutsu national holiday affectionately known as fort worth's grandmother of juneteenth she goes across the country every year walking you walked my shoes off last time and bringing awareness to the national juneteenth observance foundation i'm wanting people to understand that it's just not a festival there's so many more components to it june team is recognized on the state level in almost every state we took a million five hundred thousand signatures to congress back in september and we were so sure that we were on our way but the push to make it a federal holiday continues i just haven't given up i just know it's about that time now that we're going to have juneteenth a national holiday this is also the location of the first documented city-wide celebration of emancipation that took place in galveston over 800 people started a march at the old galveston courthouse and they marched here to the colored church on broadway greedy chapel amy church in 2019 u.s representative sheila jackson lee and u.s senator john cornyn authored a bill for a federal study of the emancipation trail it is a proposed 51-mile route from galveston to houston marking the journey a black family sharing the news of freedom and it is based on research by naomi mitchell carrier it will be a heritage tourism attraction with sites along the way where people can stop and learn the history of those sites the stories behind them i would like to welcome everybody to the oldest black baptist church in the state of texas the next steps for becoming a trail includes public input for the various locations but the copa 19 pandemic put a hold on it it is amazing the history here in our backyard and it's history you can experience any time from galveston to emancipation park your journey starts now it's more than a hashtag it's more than you just posting something on social media to recognize it whether it be volunteering at a local black organization or just reading about black culture and black history it's important to equip yourself with those resources to make sure they were all coming together as one people my ancestors decided that they were going to build institutions learned institutions that were going to build religious institutions where we could worship and it was going to provide a means for their family no matter how tethered no matter how abused we have to tell the story if we forget our history then our future is not a future at all it belongs to someone else [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: KHOU 11

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Keywords: houston, khou, khou11, news, juneteenth, galveston, slaves, enslaved, emancipation park, emancipation, freedom, slavery, Freedmen's Town

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Length: 49min 8sec (2948 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 17 2021