On Juneteenth Day everyone gets dressed in their
Sunday best and packs
picnic baskets with
fried chicken,
corn bread and beans. Then we’d all drive out to the country and find the appointed hill top. It always has a great
view, since Juneteenth is about looking into the
future. The party is like the biggest
picnic in the word: with all your
family and
friends and people you’ve never seen in your life before. There is
music and usually a tent set up for
dancing. For the little kids there’s
red pop. A Juneteenth picnic is ended by everyone gathering around and
singing a song such as
Lift Every Voice and Sing in a big circle so you can see everyone's
beautiful faces in the setting sun.
There aren't as many Juneteenth
Celebrations these days as there were when I was a kid. But I think they should bring it back and maybe we can even invite the
white people this time since they don’t seem to be set (for the most part) on being so mean to us anymore!