Augusta, GA

Juneteenth holiday celebrated in many places and in many ways

Published

1 week ago

June 17, 2024

Press Room

Juneteenth holiday celebrated in many places and in many ways

AUGUSTA, Ga. – For more than a century and a half, the Juneteenth holiday has been sacred to many Black communities.

The holiday is Wednesday, but celebrations began over the weekend across the CSRA.

Juneteenth marks the day in 1865 enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, found out they had been freed — after the end of the Civil War, and two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Since it was designated a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth has become more universally recognized beyond Black America. Many people get the day off work or school, and there are a plethora of street festivals, fairs, concerts and other events.

COMING UP:

On Wednesday, Augusta is holding its eighth annual Juneteenth Festival. Band of Brothers Augusta is hosting the event from 12:30-9:30 p.m. in the James Brown Arena Seventh Street parking lot.
In Aiken County on Wednesday, Umoja Village will celebrate from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Eudora Farms Wildlife Safari Park in Salley. Activities for the entire family are planned by Umoja Village to also include remarks by Salley Mayor LaDonna Hall, African-style drummers and dancers, educational and history presentations, line dancing and more.

People who never gave the holiday on June 19 more than a passing thought may be asking themselves, is there a “right” way to celebrate Juneteenth?

For beginners and those brushing up history, here are some answers:

Is Juneteenth a solemn day of remembrance or more of a party?

It just depends on what you want. Juneteenth festivities are rooted in cookouts and barbecues. In the beginnings of the holiday celebrated as Black Americans’ true Independence Day, the outdoors allowed for large, reunions among formerly enslaved family, many of whom had been separated. The gatherings were especially revolutionary because they were free of restrictive measures, known as “Black Codes,” enforced in Confederate states, controlling whether liberated slaves could vote, buy property, gather for worship and other aspects of daily life.

Alan Freeman, 60, grew up celebrating Juneteenth every year in Houston, 50 miles north of Galveston. He has vivid memories of smoke permeating his entire neighborhood because so many people were using their barbecue pits for celebratory cookouts. You could go to anyone’s house and be welcomed to join in the feast, which could include grilled chicken and beef and other regional cuisines — jerk meats, fried fish, Jamaican plantains.

“It’s where I began to really see Black unity because I realized that that was the one day that African Americans considered ours,” Freeman said. “The one holiday that was ours. We didn’t have to share with anybody. And it was about freedom because what we understood is that we were emancipated from slavery. But, there was so many beautiful activities.”

Others may choose to treat Juneteenth as a day of rest and remembrance. That can mean doing community service, attending an education panel or taking time off.

The important thing is to make people feel they have options on how to observe the occasion, said Dr. David Anderson, a Black pastor and CEO of Gracism Global, a consulting firm helping leaders navigate conversations bridging divides across race and culture.

“Just like the Martin Luther King holiday, we say it’s a day of service and a lot of people will do things. There are a lot of other people who are just ‘I appreciate Dr. King, I’ll watch what’s on the television, and I’m gonna rest,’” Anderson said. “I don’t want to make people feel guilty about that. What I want to do is give everyday people a choice.”

What if you’ve never celebrated Juneteenth?

Anderson, 57, of Columbia, Maryland, never did anything on Juneteenth in his youth. He didn’t learn about it until his 30s.

“I think many folks haven’t known about it — who are even my color as an African American male. Even if you heard about it and knew about it, you didn’t celebrate it,” Anderson said. “It was like just a part of history. It wasn’t a celebration of history.”

For many African Americans, the farther away from Texas that they grew up increased the likelihood they didn’t have big Juneteenth celebrations regularly. In the South, the day can vary based on when word of Emancipation reached each state.

Anderson has no special event planned other than giving his employees Friday and Monday off. If anything, Anderson is thinking about the fact it’s Father’s Day this weekend.

“If I can unite Father’s Day and Juneteenth to be with my family and honor them, that would be wonderful,” he said.

What are other names used to refer to Juneteenth?

Over the decades, Juneteenth has also been called Freedom Day, Emancipation Day, Black Fourth of July and second Independence Day among others.

“Because 1776, Fourth of July, where we’re celebrating freedom and liberty and all of that, that did not include my descendants,” Brown said. “Black people in America were still enslaved. So that that holiday always comes with a bittersweet tinge to it.”

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Augusta, GA

Crashes kill 1, injure others hours apart in Augusta, Aiken

Published

41 mins ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – After an early morning fatal crash in Augusta, just hours later another crash injured at least one person on Tuesday, according to authorities.

In Augusta

The Coroner’s Office is investigating a traffic death on I-20 and Riverwatch Parkway early Wednesday morning.

Coroner Mark Bowen says the vehicle was traveling west on I-20 when the driver apparently lost control at a high rate of speed.

The vehicle struck the center guardrail and overturn several times, Bowen says.

Driver was pronounced dead on scene 3:10 a.m., according to Bowen.

The victim’s identity will be released once next of kin notified, Bowen says.

In Aiken

A two-vehicle car crash near Edgefield Highway in Aiken has injured at least one person early Wednesday, according to authorities.

Aiken County dispatch says South Carolina Highway Patrol was on the way to the scene at 6:50 a.m. to the crash on Reynolds Pond Road across from Edgefield Highway.

aiken county sheriff(WRDW/WAGT)

Dispatch says at least one person has been injured, and Reynolds Pond Road was completely blocked.

We were on the way to the scene to learn more.

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Augusta, GA

JENNIE: Augusta Players Capital Campaign underway for city’s longest-serving arts organization

Published

8 hours ago

June 26, 2024

Press Room

JENNIE: Augusta Players Capital Campaign underway for city’s longest-serving arts organization

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF)– The Augusta Players is the longest existing arts organization in the CSRA, providing professional theatrical experiences for adults and youth for 80 years. And for 80 years they’ve been without a home of their own– but that’s about to change!

Scott Seidl is the Executive and Artistic Director of the Augusta Players.

“This has been a five year journey for us. I mean, we’ve been looking for a place like this since before the pandemic happened. And so when this one was brought to our attention, it was a no brainer. We were just so excited because it’s right there in the heart of the theater district. Literally across the street is the Miller Theater. A block away is the Imperial Theatre on the same block as Le Chat Noir. On the same block is Jessye Norman School of the Arts. And so there’s just a synergy and a energy of community that is a part of just the location itself.”

While the Augusta Players offices have been at Sacred Heart Cultural Center for years, everything else has required Seidl and his team to be quite the nomadic bunch! From rehearsals at the Kroc Center and Jessye Norman School of the Arts, to building props and costumes in other locations, to a warehouse in another location– they are scattered all over the place. Even performances happen in different venues around town.

“And it just limits us because even though all of those places and organizations are very kind to support what we do, we’re also at the mercy of their schedule. And so we have a very finite and specific amount of time that we can be in any one of these locations. And so it kind of limits the offerings that we can present to our community and in the ways that we can help our community as well.”

The Augusta Players is also a social services organization, offering programs like Augusta Readers Theater, for senior citizens…. and Camp Wonderland, for young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder. There’s also a new program on the horizon called Enchanted Stages, which is interactive theater for families that have people with disabilities.

“And our ARTreach program bringing over 12,000 kids into the theater on an annual basis. And that material that we present to them supports the curriculum to all the area counties. Like those are things that we do — I think the shows also serve the community in its own way, but these things are specifically designed and detailed to support the needs of our community.”

The community can support the capital campaign in several ways.

“Financially, of course, and when it’s time to move in about 11 months, we can use a lot of hands as well! We have a website, theapcampaign.com, and you can see photos of the renovation and the designs of the renovation and explain some of our programming. And then it offers you a long list of ways you can contribute. There are still opportunities for naming opportunities. If you happen to have the resources to contribute at a high level. But you can buy a brick too. I’ve done a couple of those in the name of my grandmother and my parents, who are both deceased but were so supportive of me. And lots of folks are choosing that path. But also, you know, $5 helps.”

Grand opening for the new home of the Augusta Players is projected to be in May or June of 2025.

You can support the Augusta Players capital campaign by donating here.

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Augusta, GA

21-year-old wanted in connection with aggravated battery in Augusta

Published

15 hours ago

June 25, 2024

Press Room

21-year-old wanted in connection with aggravated battery in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s help in finding a 21-year-old who is wanted for aggravated battery.

Malcolm Xavier Williams is wanted for aggravated battery in connection to an incident that occurred in the parking lot of Southgate Plaza on March 16.

According to the incident report, Richmond County deputies responded to Broad on the Green apartments for a past assault.

Upon arrival, deputies met with a 22-year-old female victim who stated she woke up with bruises around her face, the report says.

The incident report states the victim spoke to one of her friends who said they were at a party the night before and the victim was punched in the face by Williams.

Williams is identified as 5 foot 5 inches tall and 130 pounds.

If anyone has any information of Williams’ whereabouts, call the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at 706-821-1020.

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