Juneteenth a time to celebrate and reflect

Just a few years ago, the holiday to commemorate the freeing of enslaved people in Texas was little known to the rest of the nation. Those hard realities of America’s history were largely forgotten or ignored by much of the country. But on June 18, 2021, President Joe Biden declared Juneteenth a national holiday, opening opportunities for the whole of the United States to celebrate a day that has been overlooked for too long.

On that same day, President Elizabeth Davis, who lived in Texas for two decades, sent a letter to Furman University extolling the importance of Juneteenth and the reasons Furman would be commemorating it as an institutional holiday.

And today, on June 18, 2024, Furman held its first Juneteenth event at Joseph Vaughn Plaza – the site where the university’s first Black student walked the library steps in 1965 – and celebrated with more than 60 students, staff and faculty in attendance.

Cynthia King, associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence at Furman University, speaks during a Juneteenth celebration at the James B. Duke Library on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.

“Juneteenth is a significant milestone as it represents the nation’s advancing toward its founding declaration that all men – now humans – are created equal,” said Cynthia King, associate dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusive Excellence, at the event.

In just two short months, King, along with Holly Pinheiro, assistant professor of history; Nashieli Marcano, archivist for Digital Collections; Jeffrey Makala, associate director for Special Collections and University Archivist; and Robyn Andrews, Access Services and diversity coordinator, put together Furman’s first Juneteenth commemoration. It’s one of many to come, according to King, and an experience that they all hope will grow with each passing year.

But it had to start somewhere, and it did so through a Cultural Life Program (CLP) learning opportunity for students and, for most everyone in attendance, a realization that the stories of Juneteenth are more complicated than anyone might have originally thought.

Andrews spoke first and explained a small amount of the history that surrounds the holiday. It’s one that was called Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day (Texas), Freedom Day and Black Independence Day. But it didn’t all happen in a day, she said. Getting to this point in its long history has taken generations and, she explained, needs the attention of generations to come.

Robyn Andrews, access services & diversity coordinator at Furman University, speaks during a Juneteenth celebration at the James B. Duke Library on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.

“So many are unaware of the significance of this day, but it serves as a learning opportunity that the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t do everything, and that slavery was left untouched, especially in border states like Texas,” she said.

Andrews went on to emphasize that Juneteenth is as important as July Fourth to our country and that it honors the sacrifice of the men, women and families who lived through it and fought for this momentous occasion. It’s sentiment that was echoed by Pinheiro during his talk when he told those gathered that United States Colored Troops (USCT) soldiers were on the front lines of this effort to ensure that enslaved men, women and children were actually freed.

Students, faculty and staff listen to speakers during a Juneteenth celebration at the James B. Duke Library on Tuesday, June 18, 2024.

“This is a chance to understand what Juneteenth means,” he said. “It’s not just a date and not just a moment in time. It’s an opportunity to talk about the absolute difficulty that Black soldiers faced while enforcing what was right.”

Fellow organizer Makala wrapped up the event by highlighting Furman’s responsibility to recognizing its own history and its continued commitment to positive change. It is all ongoing and aspirational, he said, and Furman treats matters and commemorations like these as “fundamental.”

“May this first commemoration be a new tradition for this campus that shows how far we have come and how far we have to go,” Makala concluded.