Lee — Multicultural BRIDGE (Berkshire Resources for Integration of Diverse Groups and Education), in conjunction with the town, held a Juneteenth Workshop and Celebration at the Lee Premium Outlets on Wednesday, June 18.
The event was held as part of the Smithsonian Institute’s “Museum on Main Street” exhibit, “Voices & Votes: Democracy in America.” The Smithsonian previously brought their exhibit to the shopping mall in early June.
The event commemorated Juneteenth, a federal holiday celebrated on Thursday, June 19. On June 19, 1865, two months after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered in Appomattox, Va., Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas to inform enslaved African-Americans that the Civil War ended and they were free. It was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Black communities across the country have celebrated June 19 annually, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. In June 2021, then-President Joseph R. Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act making Juneteenth a federal holiday.
The June 18 event at the Lee Premium Outlets included speakers discussing the significance of Juneteenth, along with food provided by Momma Lo’s BBQ and Gwoup Zanmi Aylsyen of BRIDGE’s Solidarity Kitchen. “To me, Juneteenth is a celebration that signifies the struggle and success of our people,” BRIDGE founder and CEO Gwendolyn VanSant told The Berkshire Edge. “This is also an opportunity for our community to come together. We’re in crazy times, as always. Now more than ever, it’s important to fight for the rights of African Americans. It’s important to understand that Juneteenth is not just a celebration, but it’s also about the civic engagement of African Americans. Because our constitutional rights and civil rights are at threat, it’s important to uplift these Black-centric holidays.”
VanSant said that the Trump administration has threatened funding for the Smithsonian Institution, including the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Museums in our nation’s capital should be places where individuals go to learn—not to be subjected to ideological indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history,” President Donald Trump has said, according to multiple media outlets.
“It’s important for me to see all cultural institutions double down on their values,” VanSant said. “In this exhibit, you can see that it’s representative of all of the cultures that make up our country, and I’m proud to be a part of that. With funding to the Smithsonian under threat, I think it’s important to celebrate Juneteenth and understand its significance.”
“Juneteenth is a reminder that we have come a long way, but we have farther to come,” said Tajare West, photographer for BRIDGE. “Black people in America went from being slaves to having a state of freedom, but we still didn’t have full rights. We had milestones like the Civil Rights Movement. But we need equal rights, not just for African Americans, but all Americans. If it’s unequal for some, it’s still unequal for all. I think what makes America such a strong and good country is the fact that there’s so much diversity and there are so many people who come together on days like Juneteenth.”
“You have to acknowledge the past to move on to the future,” said Pittsfield High School student and Multicultural BRIDGE volunteer Ronan Conway, 15. “If you can’t acknowledge wrongdoings, then you can’t move on. It’s important to educate people and document their views of what has happened in our country.”
Historian and author Alexandria Russell was the featured speaker for the event. She is the executive director of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, a non-resident W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute Fellow at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, and author of the book “Black Women Legacies.”
“You know, two things can be true at the same time,” Russell said. “Juneteenth is a time for us to come together and celebrate and remember history. It’s a living memorial, so to speak. But there’s also this other underlying aspect of Juneteenth that I always think that it’s important for us to remember, and that is the cruelty of white supremacy. Not just the cruelty of slavery, but living in a country and being legally free, but still being bound. The underlying truth of Juneteenth is this: What does it mean to be declared a citizen by the 13th Amendment, given citizenship rights, and given voting rights, but still not having freedom?”
Russell said that Juneteenth is a time when people should consider these paradoxes. “As we think about democracy in our current moment, think about the resonance, including the cruelty that some of the systems held up by white supremacy have in our lives,” Russell said. “What does that actually mean? It means that we have to, despite our current climate, continue to come together and have joy and celebrate with one another. That’s what Juneteenth represents.”
