Under the baobab: State College celebrates Juneteenth with exhibit, block party
On June 19, 1865, Union Major General Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take command of the federal garrison and to enforce the emancipation of the formerly enslaved people. The Emancipation Proclamation had been in effect for over a year. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox on April 9. The western Confederate Army of the Trans-Mississippi had formally surrendered on June 2. The 13th Amendment prohibiting slavery had been proposed in Congress six months before.
General Granger carried with him general order No. 3 which read: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.
This was the first time that the approximately 250,000 formerly enslaved people of the state learned that they were officially free. In 2021 President Joe Biden made Juneteenth an official national holiday, the first since Martin Luther King Jr. Day had been adopted in 1983.
State College commemorated the sixth year of its Juneteenth celebration with the theme “Juneteenth: Our Freedom, Our Fight, Our Future.” An arts and crafts exhibition at the Woskob Family Gallery featured artist Nathan Addley. Awards were presented in two categories: K-12 and Adult. K-12 winners were: 1st place: Aiysha Watson; 2nd place: Colbert L. Clemmons III; Honorable Mention: Nasir Abdul-Quddus and Rasheed Abdul-Quddus.
In the adult category, winners were: 1st place Adwar Oguttuh; 2nd place Nashormeh Lindo; 3rd place Lucretia Coleman and honorable mention to Wisdom Wemegah and Ann Holt/ Mohamed Sleiman Labat. A special award was presented to Aiki for “We Will Always Eat Watermelon.”
Penn State professor emerita Grace Hampton curated the exhibit. She and exhibit co-director Savita Iver later hosted CREATIK Symposium on Artistic Interpretations of a Theme with panelists Kennedy Ferguson, Adbola Adalumo, Adwar Oguttuh, Nasir and Rasheed Abdul-Quddus. Dr. Yaw Agawu-Kakraba moderated a discussion on Perspectives on Traditional and Contemporary Arts and Crafts and Emerging Technology with Profs Wesley Brown, Ann Holt, Kumasi Barnett, Eduardo Navas, Ramona Ward and Abdola Adalumo.
There was also a Juneteenth Block Party at the MLK Plaza and Fraser Street sponsored by State College Borough, the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State and Happy Valley Adventure Bureau. Leslie Laing was the mistress of ceremony. The program featured Gabby Samone, Marching Cobras, C. Dumas, Terry Watson, rayDANCE Company, Kikora/Sita/Jeff, Carmin Wong, Whew Chile, Unity Worship, Eric Ian Farmer, Urban Fusion, Izuba, Nathalia Velasquez & Home Planet and Brencore MOTOWN.
Elsewhere around town
Congratulations to Kikora Franklin, recently named director of the Penn State School of Theatre.
The Central PA Theatre and Dance Fest will showcase the Centre Region’s vibrant performing arts groups this weekend, June 20-22, at various venues.
Reviving free outdoor summer theater, Firefly Rep, a new professional theater company, premiered an original piece at the Arboretum at Penn State, “Love Hurts,” directed by Sam Osheroff and also featuring Nadya Bluvshtein, Jason Claudio, Kris Danford, Joshua David Gunning, Erik Raymond Johnson, Jenny Lamb, Allegra Ritchie, Steve Snyder and Jasmin Ward.
There was a good turnout for the premiere of ”True Crime Frankenstein,” a co-production of the SOT Musical Theatre and Concord Theatricals. The original musical ran for three performances.
Penns Woods Festival, which runs June 20-22, offers outstanding chamber music, jazz and orchestral performances.
And the resistance continues. On June 14 an estimated 1,000 friends and neighbors gathered for a “No Kings” demonstration at Allen Street Gates. They joined the 5-10 million who marched nationally. It was one of largest demonstrations ever seen in this country.
The “Candles for Peace” group continues on Monday from 5-5:30 p.m. at Allen Street Gates. As does the Tuesday, noon-1 p.m. stand for democracy in front of Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s office in Bellefonte.
We, the people will save democracy.