Juneteenth celebrates culture, freedom

More than 500 people crowded Bryan Park Saturday to celebrate Juneteenth, the day triumphant Union forces arrived in Texas to announce the emancipation of all slaves.\nJuneteenth symbolizes African-American freedom and the importance of education, said Marsha Bradford of Bloomington Mayor's Office, as she spoke at the beginning of the celebration.\n"It is the time to promote and cultivate knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture," Bradford said.\nJuneteenth is the oldest known celebration and ending of slavery, she said. The news of emancipation arrived in Galveston, Texas, in June 19, 1865 -- two and a half years after president Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Since then, an increasing number of U.S. citizens have come to celebrate June 19 as "the average-American emancipation day," she said.\nThe celebration, organized by the IU Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, was the fourth in IU history. The center postponed it by 10 days this year in order for more people to attend.\nThe event was designed to educate the community about the history of slavery and to promote cross-racial and cultural understanding. Festival-goers marked the date by singing, dancing and talking.\nAlthough temperatures were in the high 80s, people strolled across the park and shopped for African-inspired clothes and ate African food, such as boiled goat meat, fried plantain and shish kebab.\nVendor Doi Mbanefo sold colorful clothes she spun out of silk, cotton and nylon imported from Nigeria. She was trying to promote African cultural heritage, she said.\nFor example, Nigerian women pay more attention to dress code than their U.S. counterparts, she said.\n"You always want to look best," Mbanefo said, who was wearing a light-green blouse and a wrapper, accentuated by a pink shawl over her shoulder and pink pumps. "You want to steal the show," she said.\nNearly 10 feet away from Mbanefo's table, Bloomington resident Collette Zumbrun and her daughter enjoyed African food under a wooden shelter.\n"We live in a multi-cultural society. It's important to learn about other people's culture," Zumbrun said while spooning African food to her one-year-old daughter.\n"(Learning about) how people see things differently, eat different foods, speak different languages and wear different dress makes life more interesting," she said. \nFrederick McElroy, IU Afro-American studies professor, said Juneteenth helps people remember what freedom means.\n"While celebrating Juneteenth, I want you think about involving yourself in this ongoing, continuous struggle for freedom, something that cannot be conferred upon you," he said to a crowd of about 50 people. To gain and retain the power to seek justice, one must continue learning, McElroy said.\n"Freedom is related to knowledge," McElroy said, referring to Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass. "Knowledge is a pathway from slavery to freedom. Freedom is always the bonus we receive from knowing the truth."\nChristina Wells, a high school sophomore from New York, attending IU summer school, listened to the speech and said it benefited her. \n"I'm a little more focused in terms of what I want to do: discovering my roots, my past and celebrating them," Wells said.\n"During the past 35 years Bloomington has become more open to African Americans," said Clarence W. Gilliam, president of the Monroe County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.\nIn August 1966, Gilliam settled in Bloomington after spending eight years in Indiana searching for a house to buy. Housing discrimination existed across the state, he said, but Bloomington was more racially tolerant than other cities.\nToday, the city can still do more to provide jobs, low-income housing and social activities for African-American youth, Gilliam said. But compared with three decades ago, "It is culturally friendly and more diverse," he said.\nDuring the celebration, three groups played music live in a pavilion in the park.\n"What kept me here right now is music," said senior music student Chris Farrar, as he sat under the tree listening to the Afro-Hoosier Band International playing Afro-Caribbean music.\nHe said he saw few IU students attending, but added: "Everybody is having a great time. I see a lot of smiles."\nOyibo Afoaku, director of the Black Culture Center, estimated that at least 500 people had joined the celebration.\n"This was, overall, a successful event," she said. Afoaku said she was especially pleased with what McElroy said about Juneteenth.\n"Knowledge is power," Afoaku said. "The more you know about what happened, the more you learn about how to treat others.\n"That's the whole essence of the celebration of diversity, which we did today"