Juneteenth Brings Out Festivity and a New Pastor
Local dancers and singers celebrated with the Union AME Church and their new pastor.
By David Ofshinsky
On a warm day that was more like mid-summer than the last day of spring, people gathered at Warwick’s Railroad Green to celebrate Juneteenth.
Juneteenth, a hybrid phrase for June 19, commemorates the events of June 19, 1865. On that date, Major General Gordon Granger of the U.S. Army arrived in Galveston, Texas. By taking control of Texas, Granger ensured freedom for the slaves there in accordance with the Emancipation Proclamation. This is considered the final act in ending slavery in the United States.
The Warwick event was organized by the Union African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Multicultural Church and the African and Caribbean Community of Orange County.
Reverend Sharon Davidson, who hails from Queens, has been Pastor of the 119-year- old Union A.M.E. Multicultural Church since May, following the departure of long time pastor, Rev. Dr. Anne Marie Bentsi-Addison Posey. Davidson said her goal is to bring people together, that is to bridge the community and the church. “We are opening the church doors to people of all ages in the community. We’ll be having a Youth Fest on July 11, and a ‘Paint & Chew’ on July 12. All are welcome.”
Union A.M.E. Multicultural Church member Tati Crespo Vallejo was active in organizing the event, also striving for multi-cultural community unity. “Some of the older residents don’t see diversity in the schools and community,” she said. “There is beauty in bringing all groups and ethnicities together, whether they be white, black, or Latino. This diversity makes for a wonderful community.”
Channabel Latham-Morris, another event organizer from the Union A.M.E. Multicultural Church, spoke of community education and fellowship. “Love is what we do,” she said. “It’s not just black and white, but a sharing of many cultures that makes this a great community.”
The organizers noted that while this is their first year sponsoring the event, others had made efforts in the past. They hope to make it an ongoing annual event, they said.
Dancers from the Warwick Dance Collective performed on the Green, and the air was filled with songs by the Warwick Broadway Collective. Both groups are under the auspices of the Warwick Center for the Performing Arts. Music, poetry and dance were ongoing throughout the 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. event, while vendors offered foods from various cultures.
While Juneteenth celebrations date back 160 years, they were diminished during the Jim Crow era of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Post World War II they had a revival as Black Americans migrated from the south and spread festivities across the country. During the 1980’s states began making Juneteenth a state holiday. In 2021, Congress voted to make Juneteenth a federal holiday, signed into law by President Joe Biden.
