Markeshia Ricks Photo
Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker sings “Lift Ev’ry Voice And Sing”
Members of the Board of Alders Black and Hispanic Caucus gathered at the Amistad Memorial to remember those for whom the good news of freedom came two and a half years late.
Fair Haven Alder Jose Crespo places a flower in the hand of Joseph Cinque.
With singing, prayer and a little speechifying, the alders Friday commemorated Juneteenth, which officially falls on Sunday.
On June 19 151 years ago, men and women still enslaved in Texas learned that not only was the Civil War over, but they were free. In fact, they had free been since Jan. 1, 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.
Colon spreads flower petals on the Amistad Memorial.
Caucus co-chair and Hill Alder Dolores Colon read the general order that was read on that fateful day in June heralding their freedom: “The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slavers are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”
Colon poignantly and emotionally tied the two and a half year delay of freedom for those enslaved in Texas the recent mass shooting and killing of people at a popular LGBTQI night club in Orlando, Florida.
“They didn’t respect difference,” she said of former slaveholders, “just like that crazy person in Florida didn’t respect difference, didn’t see their humanity.”
Walker and Dixwell Alder Jeanette Morrison.
Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker read a proclamation that called the celebration of Juneteenth “an opportunity to encourage self-development and respect for all cultures and all cultural enrichment in this community.”
“We were slaves. That’s our past history,” Walker said. “We’re not all the way free yet, in some ways, in my opinion. But we’re doing much better than we were, but we’ve got to do better.”
Baker.
Walker’s daughter, Tenaiya Baker, a student at Quinnipiac University, said she too believes that the country has come far but still has more strides to take toward true freedom for all people.