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Juneteenth is a day of remembrance. After President Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery there was Union Major General Gordon Granger who announced the end of slavery to the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas. This was two years after emancipation and the beginning of freedom. Although there is so much more progress to be made toward true parity, this Juneteenth marked a new federal government holiday as signed into law by President Joe Biden on June 17, 2021.

There were leaders like Tara Coursey, director of Caroline County Tourism, Denton Town Councilwoman Doncella Wilson and NAACP Branch President Willie G. Woods, Phd., participating.

Minary’s Dream Alliance Board President Andrea Seals said, “Not everyone understands the significance of Juneteenth nor do they agree with the significance. So it is our job to educate. Think about this. It has been a short 58 years since segregation ended. That is mind boggling because we are approaching the age of our parents and grandparents. So with Juneteenth not only are we celebrating our ancestors but our close ancestors — our parents, our aunts, our grandparents. Juneteenth is our independence day.�

“The fight for freedom is still going on. We have to educate ourselves and our young people and we have to vote,� said Coursey.

Doncella Wilson was a big organizer of the whole event.

“We need to remember June 19, 1865. It is important as a community that we never forget and that we understand the backs and shoulders that we all stand on,� Wilson said.

There was a West African drumming duo, Daande Lenol African Drum and Dance Co., that featured a 10-year-old. There was talk of singing rhythm to African American youth so they never forget the message. The drums were elevated by the presence three young female dancers in African garb who brought a vigorous display of their art. They commanded the attention of onlookers with their vital African dancing and green and yellow head scarves.

The ancestors, even if only their parents and grandparents, were summoned in a libation ceremony. After each invocation a little water was dribbled downward by Moonyene Jackson-Amis, who played the wise shaman with her silver dreadlocks and hand-carved African cane. People under the tent got into it and started calling out names and after each outpouring the word “Ashay� was intoned. This means so be it or amen.

“Water is a common element. We are born in water. Our bodies are over 60% water,� said Jackson-Amis. The drummer accompanied her with a drum made from a gourd. The congregants called out famous African Americans like Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman and Maya Angelou. And then they moved on to their family’s names- each name followed by “Ashay.� Finally they prayed for their young people to have courage, strength and wisdom.

Sno Angel cones were coloring the kids’ teeth blue and red, and some adults too. The business was giving the cold, sweet treats away for free to kids under 16.

Heather Mizeur, a Democrat running for Congress, said, “None of us are free until all of us are free. It is a part of our history that is challenging to acknowledge because there is so much pain wrapped into it. These celebrations are really important to bring us together. We really are celebrating everyone’s freedom.�

There was even the Mopar Mobb, which is a civically minded car club. Members lined up their American sport cars that growled like thunder when they left the event. One member had a red Dodge Challenger with 400 horsepower under the hood.

“We ride together, go to shows, do events, but our biggest thing is to give back to the community. For Dorchester, Sussex and Caroline area we gave away 150 back to school bags for the kids going to back to school. And last year in Salisbury at the elementary school, the classroom needed headsets so they could do their interactive learning. We gave away 40 headsets for that,� said Douglas Dobson, CEO and founder of Mopar Mobb.

Mannie Scott was heating up her cooking oil Saturday morning. She was running a fish fry station.

“We come down here to celebrate. We are doing a fundraiser for our American Legion Post 193. We hope to raise a lot. We can’t cook the fries and the fish together. We keep them separate.�

Black red and green colored flags blew in the wind as children completed Afrocentric drawings on the pavement.