Juneteenth Celebrations

WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?

"Mr. President, Friends and Fellow Citizens:

He who could address this audience without a quailing sensation, has stronger nerves than I have. I do not remember ever to have appeared as a speaker before any assembly more strikingly, nor with greater distrust of my ability, than I do this day. A feeling has crept over me, quite unfavorable to the exercise of my limited powers of speech. The task before me is one which requires much previous thought and study for its proper performance. I know that apologies of this sort are generally considered flat and unmeaning. I trust, however, that mine will not be so considered. Should I seem at ease, my appearance would much misrepresent me. The little experience I have had in addressing public meetings, in country schoolhouses, avails me nothing on the present occasion."

Oration, Delivered in Corinthian Hall, Rochester by Frederick Douglass, July 5, 1852

"Lift Every Voice and Sing"

Often referred to as The Black National Anthem," Lift Every Voice and Sing was a hymn written as a poem by NAACP leader James Weldon Johnson in 1900. His brother, John Rosamond Johnson (1873-1954), composed the music for the lyrics.

At the turn of the 20th century, Johnson's lyrics eloquently captured the solemn yet hopeful appeal for the liberty of Black Americans.

Set against the religious invocation of God and the promise of freedom, the song was later adopted by NAACP and prominently used as a rallying cry during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

NAACP - The Black National Anthem

juneteenth 2026

Theme – ANTICIPATION – From Galveston to Today… The Journey Continues

Why Anticipation, you ask…

It honors the long wait for freedom; it reflects the ongoing anticipation of justice, equity, and unity. The anticipation of progress because the work and journey continue. The fight for true equity, judicial reform, and systemic justice continues daily.

Juneteenth marks a profound turning point in American history, honoring the triumph of the human spirit over the horrors of slavery.

Community participation in local NAACP branches transforms the historic promise of Juneteenth into modern progress.

Chester County did not escape the stain of slavery.

The Underground Railroad in Chester County – A Landscape of Resistance

Hundreds of enslaved people work in the fields, taverns, forges, and mills throughout the county, but a growing enslaved population in the Caribbean opened new export markets for Chester County wheat and flour. In 1780 the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed the Gradual Abolition Act, but this early attempt to end slavery in Pennsylvania left a system in place that ensured it would continue well into the 19th century.

Jacob Glasgow personally experienced the horrors of slavery firsthand—first as an enslaved man pursuing freedom, and second as a loving father and husband trying to navigate a legal system designed to protect the interest of the Hood family, who were the enslavers of his wife Sall.

In 1803 Glasgow sued Samuel Hood over a broken contract. This was a bold act for a man who—just a few years earlier—had been inventoried as personal property. Glasgow’s perseverance and determination did not go unnoticed by the ensuing generations of children and grandchildren who shared his surname. This is a story of slavery in Chester County as told through the experience of Jacob Glasgow.

America Made Lady Liberty a Hypocrite

In 1865, Édouard de Laboulaye, "Father of the Statue of Liberty," proposed creating a monument for the United States. As the president of the French Anti-Slavery Society, de Laboulaye believed that the passage of the 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery in the U.S., 1865) was a milestone and it proved that justice and liberty for all was possible.

Too often we hear, “This is not who we are. We are better than this.” The 2nd part of this statement is aspirational. The 1st part raises the question, "If this is not who we are, then who are we?" Civil Rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson

the who we are project

Feb. 1, 1901 - May 22, 1967

James Mercer Langston- Hughes

was a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance.

He sought to honestly portray the joys and hardships of working-class black lives, avoiding both sentimental idealization and negative stereotypes.

REFLECTION

In 2016, at the age of 89, former teacher and lifelong activist Opal Lee walked 1,400 miles from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, to Washington, D.C., to get Juneteenth recognized as a national holiday.”

Why all Americans should celebrate Juneteenth.

“We have simply got to make people aware that none of us are free until we’re all free, and we aren’t free yet.” Opal Lee

Why Juneteenth Matters by Shennette Garrett-Scott

“When peace come they read the ’Mancipation law to the cullud people. [The freed slaves] spent that night singin’ and shoutin’.

They wasn’t slaves no more.”

Pan African Flag-1920

The Black American Heritage Flag-1967

The Pan-African flag was created in 1920 by UNIA members, including Marcus Garvey, to represent people of the African Diaspora & to symbolize black liberation in the United States.

The Black American Heritage Flag-1967

Also known as the African-American Heritage Flag was created in 1967 by Melvin Charles and Gleason T. Jackson. The flag is an ethnic flag that represents the culture and history of African-American people.