By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Tropical Storm Alberto did not stand in the way of the Al Edwards 45th Annual Juneteenth Emancipation Proclamation Reading in Galveston. The seats in the ballroom of Ashton Villa filled up, and many guests stood in the back of the room.
Almost every speaker commented on the day being bright with sunshine because it was a day for celebrating freedom, and the rain could not diminish the spirit of Juneteenth.
Douglas Mathews, Vice President of Old Central Board of Directors led the event, introducing each speaker who proceeded the proclamation reading. Each speaker contributed to a clearer understanding of why we celebrate Juneteenth.
Galveston City Council member Sharon B. Lewis read a document from the City of Galveston proclaiming June 19, 2024 “’Former State Representative Al Edwards’ Day’ In the City of Galveston.”
Grant Mitchell, Chair of the Cynthia and George Mitchell foundation, took on the immensely heavy subject of the history that led up to our nation’s leaders passing legislation for a federal holiday honoring Juneteenth.
His speech covered current times and issues as well. Throughout the speech, his words inspired vigorous applause from the audience.
Lana Cloth Edwards wife of former state Rep. Al Edwards commented to the audience that she had attended many Juneteenth events, but this was the first time she was a speaker at one of them.
As she began to speak about the early years of hers and Al Edwards’ relationship, the audience sat in reverent silence listening and nodding while she reminisced.
Keeping with tradition, the Rt. Rev. Stephan Duncan, DMA acted as Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger re-enacting the reading of General Order No. 3.
The Rev. Louis Simpson Jr. closed the event with his benediction and final blessing.
Juneteenth Speech, 2024 Ashton Villa
Delivered by Grant Mitchell, Chair of the Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation
On this NATIONAL holiday, we are here to celebrate freedom… we should sing and dance and rejoice for blessed freedom.
But we are also here to remember those who never had it. And those who had it only in name, without justice. We honor them by speaking the truth.
Remember… 30-year-old Louise and her two young children, human beings sold here in Galveston.
Imagine what she must have felt on hearing the news she was sold.
Imagine the love and dreams she might have held for her young ones despite the numbing reality that they were commodities…chattel.
Remember the enslaved craftsmen who worked to construct this beautiful home – yes, the very house we are in – and the desires they may have had to build a small business based on their formidable skills…
to enrich themselves, not someone else who called himself their master.
Remember the 250,000 enslaved people in Texas. Imagine their stories, their
humanity…
People with families; lives of interests and passions, moments of joy and loss and hopes and dreams and disappointments and pain…soul-crushing pain.
And remember their enslavers, many whose names you still see on buildings here in Galveston; remember the great wealth certain Galvestonians built in a cotton trade based on bondage.
And think about the slavers and slave smugglers we call the heroes of the Texas revolution. Think hard about who they were – and what their motivations were – as founders of Texas and leaders of a slave state.
Look closely. Don’t avert your gaze. It’s not scary. It’s liberating.
Trauma
Slavery is America’s national childhood trauma which we have yet to overcome, making us – too often – brittle and broken, unable to reach our potential as a society.
I am not a psychologist, but as I understand it, step number one in overcoming trauma involves reckoning with the truth.
Not just THE truth – as in, the facts of what happened – but your INDIVIDUAL truth – as in, how did what happened make you feel.
With these truths as the foundation, healing trauma requires uncomfortable, honest conversations with yourself and others.
Just a few years ago, it seemed we began to undergo a racial reckoning. During that time, we made this great day a national holiday.
But folks, it seems like we’re moving backwards. Is it just me? Or does it feel like we are moving backwards?
Shame
There is a notion going around these days that nobody should feel shame or discomfort because of their race and therefore we should be careful what we teach our children, or what we discuss in the workplace, or in the public square.
But that idea misses the point. I don’t feel shame for my race. I feel shame when our communities can’t face the truth.
I feel shame when we, as a society, shade the truth; hide from the truth; walk away from the truth and, yes, even embrace lies.
I feel shame when our lawmakers forbid Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs…programs that seek to ensure that we all belong.
What is offensive about being deliberate in that? I don’t know about you, but a diverse, equitable, inclusive society is one I want to live in.
It’s the society we deserve. And if we don’t believe in that, we don’t really believe in justice at all.
I feel shame when our educators are intimidated into not teaching what is evidently true about our past and our present or offering challenging perspectives.
Teachers avoid talking about the racism that has been and remains imbedded in our laws and our institutions…
because ambiguous government intervention in the classroom makes it a minefield to have meaningful discussions on the Jim Crow era; or redlining in lending which kept minority neighborhoods undercapitalized.
It’s easier to not talk about the discrimination in the GI bill exacerbating the wealth gap; or how communities of color were bulldozed to build the interstate highway system; or racial disparities in the court system.
Exposing kids to diverse perspectives is how you develop critical thinkers. Isn’t that what education is for?
But why risk a misstep and blow up your career? It’s safer to pretend injustice never existed – like a childhood trauma you can’t face, you bury it deep and let it fester,
Oh no, let’s not ask our young people to look there, poking at it might make them… uncomfortable. Let’s soft-peddle the facts and hide behind feel good slogans like “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
We call ourselves brave?
Let’s BE brave, Let’s shout the truth, let’s grapple with the truth; we need to have courageous conversations on the basis of these truths. We need a tidal wave of courageous truth-telling across this country. That’s what bravery looks like.
Only then can we begin to fully overcome our lingering trauma. True reconciliation is not easy, but we can’t stop trying.
By trafficking in half-truths and lies, we subjugate ourselves to a different type of bondage: an intellectual bondage, a moral bondage an emotional bondage. The chains of ignorance bind our minds and keep us pinned to the ground.
American exceptionalism
There’s a story we tell ourselves, that America is morally superior compared to other nations… that it is exceptional
I’m not the first to point out the obvious: There is nothing exceptional about a nation that proclaims, “all men are created equal,” promises in its constitution “the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,” and then codifies the
institution of slavery…
except, perhaps, that it is exceptional in its hypocrisy. Or cruelty. America was born with exceptional ideals, yes, but it was also born deeply flawed.
We need to be able to say that. It’s OK to say it. It was created by humans and humans are flawed.
Exceptionalism is earned not endowed.
America CAN be exceptional. It IS exceptional – you know when? – when it looks directly and bravely at its flaws and changes course.
The abolition of slavery is one example of our nation facing its flaws and changing direction. It’s what brings us together today…. but there are many more:
the voting rights act, the reconstruction era, women’s suffrage, civil rights legislation, marriage equality… these are all examples of American exceptionalism.
All of these advances of freedom took courage, conviction, and struggle.
It is in those moments when we live up to our own ideals – when we have the awareness to see our flaws and make amends – that we are exceptional…it is those moments that make me proud to be an American.
Hiding from the truth, however, is a national shame.
We can’t change the past. But we will shape the future – for better or worse.
If we are to be exceptional – if we are to live up to the promise of America –
We will bend that arc of history towards justice by listening to each other, being honest about how we have faltered, showing compassion, thinking critically and bravely pressing forward toward a just world.
It all starts with facing the truth head on.
We are here to celebrate freedom. But truth and freedom are intertwined. As we celebrate freedom, we must also embrace the truth. As a wise man said…as a DIVINELY wise man said – you shall know the truth, and the TRUTH shall make you
free.
