A conversation on the meaning and message of Juneteenth

By Walter Ryce

Juneteenth is a blend of “June” and “19th,” the date in 1865 when federal soldiers delivered news to Texas, the last slave-holding state of the Civil War, that slavery had been abolished two years earlier by Abraham Lincoln’s “Emancipation Proclamation.” 

Now a federal holiday, it’s long been celebrated in the Black community as a day of liberation, appointed with food, music, art, fashion, storytelling and unity. But it’s also tied to a painful and immoral facet of this country’s history. 

Four members of Cal State Monterey Bay’s Black community, representing various generations, gathered to address questions about Juneteenth – its history and culture, their hopes and experiences, and the coming Juneteenth Jubilee that some are involved in organizing. They were: 

• Rhonda Mercadal-Evans, executive director of the Center of Experiential Learning and Innovation
• Matthew Sanders, a junior majoring in business 
• Da'ja Robinson, special consultant with the Office of Community and Belonging
• Vivian Waldrup Patterson, PhD, director of Teaching, Learning and Assessment 

Question: What did you think when you first heard about the Texas story that instigated the Juneteenth holiday? 

Da’ja
I learned about it in my 30s during the George Floyd and Covid era. For me, it felt like I went through the stages of grief — anger, sadness, acceptance, all these different emotions. That’s how this [Juneteenth Jubilee] was birthed. We put together our first Juneteenth [observance] in nine days… We all felt like we had to do something, especially Millennials. We felt like it was time to let our elders rest. 

Matthew
I was never taught or learned the details about it. I learned about the Emancipation [Proclamation] from my family. 

Vivian
I come from a big family. The older ones dragged you to everything… We had to understand what was going on… I was in a family of educators, people who were active and advocates of community service. [Learning about Juneteenth] made me angry, it did make me upset, and it made me wonder what can I do?

Rhonda
Because I’m an Army brat and a lot of my time was spent overseas and we as a family had to get acclimated to Germany, to London… to the area we were at. A lot of my knowledge about Juneteenth wasn’t taught to us. I’ve been more educated about my heritage since I got into the education system. I’m [an energetic] 67 and can put it in perspective and am empowered to do something about it. 

Question: What is the need for Juneteenth as a federal holiday?

Rhonda
I think now more than ever, to get the truth out. The heinous things that have been done to Black people — I can see why they want to cover it up. Everybody needs to go to the [National Museum of African American History and Culture] in DC. See the [shackles] they put on babies. People need to see the truth. 

Vivian
Juneteenth is an opportunity for us to reconnect with history. We need to understand it… then we know not to repeat [the mistakes]. I believe everybody should do their own research…to understand what it’s really about. The root cause of the Juneteenth problem is poor communication. As a result of it not flowing, people were enslaved two years longer. That’s huge, that’s horrific. 

Da’ja
That’s why it’s important to have the intergenerational relationships. 

Matthew
Before Juneteenth became a federal holiday, it was brought over to everyone by knowledge. That’s…how my generation learned about it. It was from all the little cookouts with Black-owned businesses and artists in the middle of the park. It’s so important now that it is federalized.

Question: How can people who are not Black engage with the Juneteenth holiday?

Da’ja
Patronize Black businesses. Listen to Black stories. Ask questions.

Vivian
It’s not a Black thing. It’s symbolic about a human thing called freedom. The celebration is nice because when we go through hard times, we need joy. We think it’s about Blackness, but it’s about humanness and freedom. Fast forward to these moments and you see women’s rights being taken away. At what point do we say, “That’s enough”?

Da’ja
That reminds me of the Black Lives Matter movement and how, when it was first birthed, people were trying to silence it, saying all lives matter. But we were saying all lives can’t matter until Black lives matter. 

Matthew
I feel like it’s pretty simple for everyone to be included and show support. They should want to submerge themselves in the culture and history. It’s not just about Black people or about one group. Black people are the start, the root. We’re a lot of the influence for a lot of different things. We all intersect. 

Vivian
I have a lot of faith in people. Some people have money, some people have time, but there is something we can all contribute to make things better… I agree with Matt. We are the creative spirit of it all. Despite how we’re treated, still we rise. How do you explain that? It’s because we don’t get lost in the problem. There are allies who get it. You can go all the way back to the Quakers. 

Da’ja
You know what I learned today? That Spelman [College, a historically black institution] was actually named after a white woman. That was her way of giving back and uplifting the Black woman.

Rhonda
That’s why you have to know your history. There are people that helped us. 

Question: Do you perceive that Juneteenth may mean different things to different generations in the Black community? 

Rhonda
If they’re not taught right. From a tiny tot, [we] need to talk about what this means. What does Juneteenth really mean? Yes, we’re going to have hot dogs and cotton candy and go play games. With any celebration or holiday, they need to know the real meaning of what it is. So when you come back from these celebrations, at the dinner table, you ask “What did you learn today? And what will you do now that you learned it?” 

Vivian
I know different generations experience this differently. The older generation is closer to the pain of this. Some of them just don’t even want to talk about it. By the time you get to my generation, I benefited from their story, from their pain. Now I want the generations after me to have a better experience. 

Rhonda
My granddaughter is Filipino and Black and she learned something about how Black people were treated, and she came up to my son’s wife and said “They really did that, Mom?” She was devastated by what she learned. 

Vivian
The storytelling, the music, the entertainment, the education, the multifaceted experience, [they bring] in all the generations together so they can experience each other. When Helen Rucker is here, don’t you think her heart is healing? When you see Mel [Mason], all the stuff he’s had to deal with — in the Black Panthers, in the community, police brutality, all of it — but when he comes here and he gets to have an award in his name given away to a student for bravery or courage, that triggers healing. 

Da’ja
One of my roles for the Juneteenth event is the crowning ceremony where we do honor our elders. Every year we pick a Mrs. and Mr. Juneteeth. So it is the Mel Masons, Mrs. Ruthie Watts, Mrs. Helen Rucker, Mr. DeBerry before he passed on. All the pioneers who contributed to our community, they get their flowers that day. They share the history. Danny Glover was there, and he…just spoke about historic relevance and his contributions. The majority is celebration, but there are pieces in there that are about the history. 

Matthew
As part of the younger generation, I know there’s a lot of pain and hurt, but I’m not really thinking about how they’re perceiving Juneteenth. From my generation, most of us probably missed that perspective. 

Vivian
When I’ve gone to Juneteenth, it’s not just us. Other folks come. Everybody is happy to be there, talking and connecting, eating and laughing, honoring. d

Rhonda
The system says everything has to be fun. I think we have to focus on the true meaning of Juneteenth. African American people have contributed so much to this nation: how a pen was invented, paper, ribbon, clothing…the surgical stitches [for] the retina of your eye. The schools aren’t going to tell us. The history books aren’t going to tell us. That’s why it’s great we have access to this knowledge… We need to know this.

CSUMB community members are part of the Monterey County Black Caucus in organizing the sixth annual Monterey County Juneteenth Jubilee at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 14, at Laguna Grande Park in Seaside.