25-05-2025
Black museum in Gainesville again celebrates Florida Emancipation Day
Celebrating the freedom of enslaved Africans in Florida highlighted a Florida Emancipation Day event at a Black museum in southeast Gainesville.
Billed as the 'Florida Emancipation Celebration' that is held as part of 'Journey to Juneteenth: Florida Emancipation to National Celebration,' the event was again held at the Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center on May 24.
It began with a few dozen people participating in the 'Freedom Walk' from Depot Park to the museum that is located just east of the park on Southeast Seventh Avenue.
'KKK' was scrawled on a real estate sign across from the museum.
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Leading the walk was Vivian Filer, a matriarch of the local Black community who is now known as Queen Mother Mangye Naa Amiami Osuowaa Okropong I after being enstooled, and Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward. Those walking entered the grounds of the museum singing the freedom song 'Ain't Nobody Going to Turn Us Around.'
An enstoolment is an African and African Diaspora tradition of bestowing the title of Queen Mother upon esteemed women as a recognition of past, present and future service to the community.
'We have a long day to learn about what emancipation means,' Ward said during brief remarks he delivered to the crowd at the event in sweltering heat.
History, especially Black history, has to be told with a louder voice now more than ever because the trend in America is to quiet the conversation about true American history, Ward said.
'There are some people who don't want the story told,' Ward said, adding that hearing, learning and telling history is 'very important.'
'We need to hear the truth,' Ward said. 'We are here to hear the good stories and the bad.'
Juneteenth, which is observed on June 19 each year, is the oldest known celebration held to commemorate the end of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers led by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger reached Galveston, Texas, with the news that the Civil War and slavery had ended.
However, Emancipation Day in Florida commemorates the end of slavery in Florida when on May 20, 1865, 11 days after the Civil War ended, Union Gen. Edward M. McCook read the Emancipation Proclamation in Tallahassee. Emancipation Day and Juneteenth took place two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which became official on Jan. 1, 1863.
Before the walk, Filer said she talked to those participating in the Freedom Walk about the importance of celebrating Black history. The history of Florida Emancipation Day was taught in schools and celebrated in Black communities during segregation and became less popular after integration, Filer said.
The best way to learn and study Black history is by reading the works of Black historians and writers such as Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes and others whose stories about Black history are written from 'their guts,' Filer said.
The re-emergence of teaching about Florida Emancipation Day began several years ago when the leaders of the Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network (FAAHPN) asked its members in cities throughout Florida to educate their communities about the subject, Filer said.
The FAAHPN, based in Tallahassee, is a professional museum association providing management training and consultation for African American and other museums doing significant programming focused on the history of the African diaspora in the state of Florida, according to an article published in the Tallahassee Democrat.
'Tallahassee has the day off for Florida Emancipation Day,' Filer said.
Other Journey to Juneteenth events to be held include:
'Silver Linings' Community Day, May 31, noon-4 p.m. Harn Museum of Art, 3259 Hull Road, UF campus. Free.
GNV Film Festival, June 7, 6-10 p.m. 'When the Music Was Cheap and Darn Near Free," 6 p.m., Hippodrome Cinema; 'Bridging Troubled Waters: The Life of Coach Jessie Heard: Lincoln High and Buchholz High School," 6:30 p.m., Hippodrome Cinema; "Black Panther," 8 p.m., Bo Diddley Plaza. All events are free.
Honoring the Past, Living in the Present, Building for the Future, June 18, noon-8 p.m., Santa Fe College Blount Center, 530 W. University Ave. Free
Juneteenth Breakfast and Black Music Month Celebration, June 19, 7:30-9 a.m., Cotton Club Museum and Cultural Center. Ticketed event ($35).
'An Evening with Avery*Sunshine' Juneteenth Concert, June 19, 6-9 p.m., Bo Diddley Plaza. Free.
Storytime at Depot Park, June 20, 10:30-11 a.m., Depot Park. Fest 2025, June 21, 3-9 p.m., Bo Diddley Plaza. Free.
Tha Cookout: A Juneteenth & Fatherhood Celebration, June 22, noon-6 p.m. (Location TBD).
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Emancipation Day in Florida celebrated at Black museum in Gainesville
