Monday, June 15, 2009

Juneteenth

Sherry, Isaac and I went to the Juneteenth celebration in our neighborhood on Saturday.  a very moving occasion and we learned a lot about this important annual gathering (see here and here for more info).

the highlight was to meet an elderly woman who had a very old photograph of her mother standing on a wagon celebrating Juneteenth in 1910 in Texas.  an incredible picture of people 100 years ago who were all too aware of the tragedy of slavery for the immediate generation before them.  this energetic woman delivered an impassioned exhortation to Isaac about the importance of going to college (her mother had graduated in 1915 and she had graduated from college in 1941...remarkable achievements for their respective eras). 

here are some pics.

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1 comment:

billy said...

Great photos Geoff, looks like it was a really interesting festival...and definitely resonates with some of the things that I have been witnessing...tomorrow, June 16, is actually the anniversary of the Soweto student uprising of 1976....it is nice to see these links between our common struggles in all areas of the globe....look forward to seeing you soon....Billy