Stephenson, Mrs. Charles (Grace Murray). [Emancipation Day Celebration band, June 19, 1900], photograph, June 19, 1900; University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.
Why do we eat the foods we do on Juneteenth?
Juneteenth originated in Texas and with that, the foods eaten during this celebration have a strong history in the South.
After slavery enslaved people began to recall and re-construct their experience through the celebration of Juneteenth. The practice of eating red foods—red cake, barbecue, punch and fruit– may owe its existence to the enslaved Yoruba and Kongo brought to Texas in the 19th century. For both of these cultures the color red is the embodiment of spiritual power and transformation. Enslavement narratives from Texas recall an African ancestor being lured using red flannel cloth, and many of the charms and power objects used to manipulate invisible forces required a red handkerchief. It’s clear that even in slavery’s aftermath; Afro-Texans had a rich food culture, created under adversity in communities with rich cultural origins and a diversity of influences, with a strong root in the foodways and cultures of West and Central Africa.
More on red foods:
Red foods are customary for Juneteenth, the crimson a symbol of ingenuity and resilience in bondage. Watermelon, Texas Pete hot sauce and red velvet cake are abundant. A strawberry pie wouldn’t be out of place. Spicy hot links on the grill — most commonly made with coarsely ground beef, and artificially dyed red — are a Juneteenth staple, too, and ”a distinctive African-American contribution to barbecue,” said Adrian Miller, a James Beard award-winning author and soul food expert.
Red drinks, like strawberry soda and Texas-made Big Red pop, generally rule the Juneteenth bar, and link present to past. ”Two traditional drinks from West Africa that had a lot of social meaning are kola nut tea and bissap,” Mr. Miller said. (Bissap is more commonly known as hibiscus tea.) Both came to the Americas with the slave trade; red kola nuts and hibiscus pods colored the water in which they were steeped.
Taylor, Nicole. “Hot Links and Red Drinks: A Juneteenth Tradition.” New York Times, 14 June 2017, p. D3(L). Gale OneFile: News, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A495524718/STND?u=maine&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=948834f4. Accessed 20 June 2024.
Poet Danez Smith sings out poems of love and intimacy in their 2020 collection Homie. In the poem “my president” they affirm all those who are their people, supporting their mama for president and their grandma for president and trans girls for president and teachers and birds and neighbors who hold the door open for them when their arms are full of laundry and the dude at the pizza spot and the children who they’d elect too, like “jonathan, eleven /…blog writer, young genius, community activist, curls tight / as pinky swears, black as my nation i trust the world in his tender / blooming hands, i trust him to tell us which rivers are safe to drink / & which hold fish like a promise.”
There’s a whole Danez Smith world in this book, a world’s expanse of observation and feeling, life and motion, elegy and ode, and the nation they create in these verses is for their beloved friends, their fam. They call their loves. The morning is a soft shawl. Texts arrive at just the right time. Trees are slow green explosions. Their anthem is mighty.
The Portland Public Library stands in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement and those who are working to build systemic change to address racial inequities that demand our attention — as a country, society, and city.
We condemn the recent racist acts against Black people and ongoing racism against all people of color. Hate and violence do not represent our core values and have no place in our community. PPL has taken actions to build equity and understanding in their place by:
Creating a dynamic space where all in the community are welcome to pursue their interests and growth
Fostering civic-mindedness and engagement through programming, exhibits, and voter initiatives
Promoting stories and resources about systemic racism and social equity barriers to build understanding
Ensuring access to diverse collections for all ages to help families talk about race, respect, and self-respect
Libraries are unique spaces where we can come together and work to level the playing field so that we are safe and welcoming for all and to ensure respect, to build understanding, and to help create solutions for our community’s greatest needs. At the same time, we at PPL know that we still have work to do to ensure that our own policies, practices, and systems ensure equity. We encourage others who want to learn and grow with us in efforts to eliminate institutional and social racism at all levels.
Today, I am sharing again the commitment PPL made in September 2017, in association with a group of 163 leading urban public libraries:
As leaders of North America’s public libraries, we are committed to achieving racial and social equity by contributing to a more just society in which all community members can realize their full potential. Our libraries can help achieve true and sustained equity through an intentional, systemic, and transformative library-community partnership. Our library systems are working to achieve equity in the communities we serve by:
Eliminating racial and social equity barriers in library programs, services, policies, and practices
Creating and maintaining an environment of diversity, inclusion, and respect both in our library systems and in all aspects of our community role
Ensuring that we are reaching and engaging disenfranchised people in the community and helping them express their voice
Serving as a convener and facilitator of conversations and partnerships to address community challenges
Being forthright on tough issues that are important to our communities
Libraries are trusted, venerable and enduring institutions, central to their communities and an essential participant in the movement for racial and social equity.
We are proud today to stand with our neighbors, the American Library Association, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, and the Urban Libraries Council in once again condemning social injustice and racism in all its forms and building better solutions.
Sarah Campbell Peter Richardson
Executive Director President, Board of Trustees
