- Many people do not know about Juneteenth in America.

We never learned about it in our history books nor classrooms.

Should people celebrate Juneteenth?

Should Juneteenth be made a national holiday?

It is recognized as a holiday in 47 states, but it is not a national holiday yet.

Why is it important for all Americans to know about Juneteenth?

Hello, I'm Phillip Davis.

Welcome to Courageous Conversations.

We are broadcasting from the PPL Public Media and Education Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Joining us to talk about Juneteenth is Dr. Karen Britt, president of the Lehigh Valley Juneteenth Group.

Suzanne Fredricks, a local NAACP representative.

Hannah Elliott, a board member of the Lehigh Valley Juneteenth Initiative.

Thank you all for joining me this morning.

Dr. Britt, I'm going to begin with you.

What is Juneteenth?

- Juneteenth really is authentic American history.

So, Emancipation Proclamation was put in place January 1st, 1863, that freed enslaved Africans.

However, it took two-and-a-half years until June 19th, 1865, where those that were enslaved in the state of Texas were then informed about the Emancipation Proclamation.

So, that's why the Juneteenth celebration or date is so significant in our history, because it is American history.

So, it's taking a look at, yes, the ills of slavery and everything that came with it, with all of those 400 years of slavery, and then, the release of enslaved Africans, but then for all enslaved Africans to be informed that emancipation had occurred.

- Wow.

- And if you take a look at the Juneteenth flag, it really represents and really speaks to, kind of, the state of Texas.

It's red, white and blue, but it has the Lone Star right there in the center right, again, representing the state of Texas.

So, that's where the background, in regards to Juneteenth and the history, and what it means and what it stands for.

- Wow, so there was a two-year lag time?

So, evidently the folks down in Texas weren't ready to comply, right, with the federal government and with the Emancipation Proclamation.

And they got two more years of free labor from the folks that were in Texas.

That's amazing.

You know, we never learned about this stuff in our history books.

I know Hannah's on here, and she's a millennial.

Hannah, when you were in school, did they ever teach you or talk about Juneteenth?

And how does that make you feel as a young millennial, thinking about, you know, history that was taken away from us?

- Yes, it was never spoken about in grade school or high school at all.

I just came to discover it maybe like 3-4 years ago.

And Dr. Karen Britt, my aunt, she brought it to my attention that we needed something to call our own.

And it was really through social media that it was starting to be like advertised, like, "Oh, this is the day that "Black people were really set free.

"We shouldn't necessarily celebrate Independence Day "because that wasn't the day that our people "were actually set free."

And I learned that through social media as a millennial.

And then, she brought that to my attention, that we needed something to call our own.

I was more than grateful to be a part of the initiative.

- And so, you've joined the team and you're going to bring your skills to help bring it about.

That's amazing.

Suzanne, you're a local member, a representative of the NAACP.

Why do you think it's important for people to know about Juneteenth, and for it to be celebrated?

- Well, it's important because it is part of our history, and we are part of this nation, this world, people of color.

- And so, it should be recognized that we were free, we should be entitled to everything that everybody else was entitled to.

We were suppressed for the longest time, and the fight continued back then.

And it's continuing now today, as we look at what's going on in the world.

It is important, and our children need to know our history so it's not forgotten.

Because once we're gone, who's going to be around to tell the story?

- Sure.

- And, getting back to what we were taught in school, we had a minor subject.

Back in the day, it was major and minor subjects.

And we had a Black history, but not too many people enrolled in it, as it was a minor educational piece.

You didn't have to, it didn't affect your credits into getting into college, or anything like that.

But it was Black history.

And I can remember it being taught by Reverend Moore back in the day in high school, in 10th grade.

But it is important that we continue to speak about Juneteenth, that our children know about Juneteenth, because they got it too easy today.

They don't know what the history dictates and why we are here, and how we got here.

So, it is important to educate and celebrate.

- That's good.

You know, it's amazing because, as a 55-year-old man, I can honestly say that Juneteenth was not something that I was aware of, although we had in our church Black history programs, and there was teaching and instruction, my father was very big on me knowing my history, my culture.

Juneteenth was not something that I was made aware of.

And then, it speaks to the deeper issue of the division within our country, and how the country was so divided that it led to a civil war.

And, even after the civil war, Texas, for the love of money, right, the Scripture said that "for the love of money is the root of all evil," enslaved, you know, and we don't know how many people, but a lot of individuals for two years.

I mean, that's a long period of time.

Dr. Karen, what made your team decide to do something of this magnitude?

This is, I think it's historic.

I don't ever remember there being a Juneteenth celebration in the Lehigh Valley.

And you're not doing it small.

This is a large celebration going to be held right at the SteelStacks.

So, well, I'm excited.

Talk a little bit about what the motivation was and what you're hoping to accomplish.

Well, truthfully, and to be candid and honest, tell the truth, shame the devil, is I thought of, really, kind of like a barbecue.

I said, "Let's do something that was at least us coming "together to celebrate."

And so, I talked to some relatives, talked to a few other folks, and the background with doing some things with the Easton NAACP and Lafayette College, and a humanities consortium, the Lehigh Valley Humanities Consortium.

And I was a part of putting together artifacts that led to an exhibit that was an award-winning exhibit at the school's museum.

And that kind of reactivated me into doing something for the community.

And then, when I kind of thought about it and, knowing that the importance of this holiday needs to be elevated, but then, also coming from a background in a household with a mother that was involved in an organization that worked with young girls, it was SINYA, the Society for the Improvement of Negro Youth Association, that was an acronym for SINYA.

And what they did was put on a debutante ball.

But at the age of 4-5, I can remember these women, all volunteer, coming to each other's houses, briefcases and all, planning this event.

It was a whole year in planning and work.

But the takeaway for me was that these were women from Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, and Philipsburg.

It was Valley.

- Right.

So, I knew, in moving forward with Juneteenth, that it wasn't going to be something just in Easton, in Bethlehem, you know, siloed within the city.

It needed to be Valley-wide.

So, it needed to really have those in the forefront in the steering committee to represent all three cities for their skill sets, their abilities, their aptitudes, what they bring to the table.

But also, then it will be something that will bring the Valley together.

- Mm-hmm.

- And so, when looking at it from where I kind of thought from the barbecue in a park to where it is now, I said, this has to be all gone, right?

Because, you know, He's leading you and providing along the way.

So, yes, we are scheduled for June 19th at SteelStacks.

We have support from private and public sectors and agencies.

And we're so very, very proud to have sponsorship by the Lehigh Valley Engage Humanities Consortium.

We have support from Air Products.

We have support from the African-American Business Council of the Greater Lehigh Chamber of Commerce, from the Office of Multicultural Affairs of Muhlenberg College, as well as the African American Coalition of Easton, and more to come.

Because I'm looking at this as a perpetual, so this has perpetuality to it, perpetuity, excuse me, so that it's for future generations.

This is not just a one-stop, you know, this is one celebration, and that's the end of it, which is why we're going through the incorporation process and having it established as an organization.

And I would say, you know, as I'm talking to folks, and people have been so, so excited to hear that this is actually going to come to fruition, is that if, you know, if I can eat a hot dog with you on July 4th to celebrate 1776, when my people were still enslaved, you can eat a slice of red velvet cake with me on Juneteenth.

- That's great.

That's amazing.

Thank you.

That is exciting.

So, Suzanne, you know, there's all of this buzz about it.

And, you know, I'm from the Valley, as well.

There's all of this buzz about this Juneteenth celebration.

I was in a board meeting and people were talking about Juneteenth and how they can support and send resources.

The African-American coalition of Easton has approved, and there's money coming to support this.

And it's Valley-wide.

And I know you're an Easton person, tell me a little bit about the choice of SteelStacks, and I think Karen addressed it a little bit, but what does it say to our community to be able to be centralized at SteelStacks, and then, people from all throughout the Valley come and converge on that space for a Juneteenth celebration?

- Well, yeah, absolutely, because we had considered other areas, but it seemed like it wasn't centralized.

And using ArtsQuest, and them partnering with us and getting the word out made it bigger.

So, with that, we thought bigger and we wanted to go bigger.

So, we've got all kinds of entertainment coming.

We've got KJ Productions, which is going to put on like a little skit, our skit for us that depicts Juneteenth.

And coming forward, we're going to have dances.

We have gospel singing, jazz singing, we're going to have reggae music, soul, R&B.

All that's part of it and part of our history coming through, because we know when they were enslaved, that's what got them by, singing the gospel and praying, and getting together as much as they could and trying to learn off of each other much as they could, because, you know, even when we were enslaved, we weren't allowed to learn to read and do different things, learn to write.

So, everything was done in secret.

Those that knew taught others.

And so, that's what this is all about, coming together, centrally located, enjoying the day in the music, our music coming through history, and share it with everybody and hopefully keeping it going throughout the generations.

We don't want this to be lost.

As Karen said, we want this to be perpetuated where it's year after year after year.

And with that, hopefully we'll continue to grow the support that we need because stuff like this isn't always just free.

We need partners and things like that.

But we can do this.

- Right.

- We're going to do this.

- It's exciting.

- Yeah.

- It is exciting.

- It's collaborative.

It's inclusive, right?

And it's not just for African-Americans.

Juneteenth, often we hear about Black history being Black history, but Black history is American history.

Right, that we are interwoven into the fabric and the history and the story of America.

A lot of times, we are deleted or purposefully not included in this story, from inventers to, you know, just historians, to people who have done great and wonderful things.

Hannah, your generation now, right, the millennial generation, how do how do we get the millennial generation involved in a part?

Of course, having you on the board is a big deal.

I think it's wonderful.

But do you think that you can see your generation getting involved in something like this, participating in something like this, and why?

- The reason I feel like my generation could possibly get involved, I remember being a kid and looking forward to Black Heritage Day growing up in Allentown, and we would all gather at Valencia Park, and there was like this big basketball tournament, and there would be like all generations there, and you could get a plate of soul food.

And it just was a good time.

And I looked forward to it every year.

And I still do look forward to it.

And unfortunately, because of Covid, it couldn't transpire this year.

But what I noticed in that moment is that we do, my generation especially, we enjoy that gathering and that unity in that community.

So, I definitely feel like they would love to be a part.

But not only will they be able to be a part this time around, they'll be able to be educated, as well.

And we have a day to really call our own because it's almost as if a lot of those community days here in this area are being lost.

But I do believe that we will enjoy it.

- Yeah, there's many cultural days right throughout the Valley, but you don't find a lot that are celebratory of African-Americans and our community.

Dr. Britt, back to you.

And as it relates to, now you're an educator.

You've been working at Northampton County for many, many years.

I remember coming to your class back in the '90s, I feel like it was.

- Yes.

- You just recently received your doctorate degree in education.

What do you think the impact of not learning about this in school does to children and even those who are instructing?

Like, what is the collateral damage, I guess, I will ask?

- It is a lack of inclusiveness.

And you feel that you're separate or you're discounted, or you're devalued.

- Right.

- Because I teach business and economics.

And in my econ class, for example, I have my econ students.

They watch a documentary on Black Wall Street, and then, we have a discussion about it in.

Some of my students of color have heard of Black Wall Street, but many of my Caucasian students say, like, "Why have I never heard of this?"

This region had such economic power, and there were other communities even before Black Wall Street in in Allensworth, California, that was a complete African-American community, economically empowered and understanding that you, the community that you represent are powerful, that you have resources, that these resources are important, then make you feel included, that you're not discounted.

And when we do that in our education system, when we delete or erase, then really fuels what we have been working through in regards to racism and things like white privilege, and all of that.

Well, where does that come from?

Well, if I feel that my community is the only one that's elevated, well, obviously then everyone else is discounted.

- Yeah, yeah.

- And I don't see value there.

- So true.

So true.

And that deletion of information creates a chasm and a perspective, right, that says, you know, your community hasn't done anything.

You've only been slaves, then you got out of slavery.

And so, I remember sitting in history class many a years just thought, man, this is horrible.

Is this all we've done?

But my father and mother were very intentional about educating me outside of the education system.

And that responsibility really falls on the parents, when the school system is lacking.

We actually did a show on the Black Wall Street, and we got so many calls and emails in regards to the information that was shared, because it was a self-sustaining, successful community, and there were many of them across the United States.

But it seemed that every time a community rose up, a part of the Black community, it was torn or burned down, or there was some justification for interrupting that movement, and, you know, of Black folks being self-sufficient.

Suzanne, you're a parent and engaged in the NAACP.

When you think about Juneteenth and how it's going to impact our community, what do you hope will be the outcome of a celebration such as this?

- Well, I hope our young people take away the memories of the event, the day of the event, and hopefully they'll know that we aren't erased, and that we were important.

And the education piece to this that we, as a people of color, were involved in a lot of inventions.

I can remember a program with the Ten Black Men mentoring program a few years ago under the direction of Clayton Bond, when we went into the school system.

And I read a piece in the middle school at that time about all the inventions that Black people invented that I was unaware of, that actually got, like, the sewing machine started, the light bulb lit, and things like that... - The potato chip?

- Yeah!

And I hope this piece will be read by one of our poetry readers, because it is powerful.

I didn't know this stuff.

I thought everything was invented by the white man.

So, there is a big education piece to this, and I hope our children, as well as adults that didn't know, like me, that we were central.

What's the word I'm looking for?

We mattered, OK, because a lot of things wouldn't have happened without us, OK?

So, I'm hoping there's a big education piece that people take away, they look forward to the next event, and this is perpetuated down through the years.

- So back to you, Dr. Britt.

It was already mentioned that there will be music and drama.

Will there be other things that we can look forward to as we're preparing for Juneteenth, which is only a few months away, it feels like?

- Right.

Well, this is more of a family gathering, so we do have theatrical presentations.

There's dancing.

There's a variety of genres of music that will be represented.

The spoken word will be presented.

But Hannah's also overseeing the children's area.

- Oh, wonderful.

- And so, again, we're looking for the entire family to come and to really celebrate.

There is an opening ceremony and all the formalities of that.

But I'll turn it to Hannah to really speak about the children's area, and what we'll be able to bring forth for our event on Juneteenth.

- Sure, Hannah, talk to us.

What are you going to be doing with the kids?

- So, we wanted to give the kids, like, teachable moments and things that they can interact in interactive art.

So, I've been researching a lot of puppeteers.

I found one in particular that's rooted in Philadelphia.

They specialize in East African theater, and they express, like, a puppet show through folk music and dance.

And they will be able to tell the story of Juneteenth through puppets.

- Wow.

- And I think that'll be really cool for the kids.

And they can also interact and they can dance, and they can sing.

- Right, right.

And Hannah... Go ahead, Karen.

- If I can just also interject.

We are looking towards, this is not confirmed, this is just a concept, is to have a historical food tasting.

Because I had mentioned about the red velvet cake.

And if people can't connect the dots, red velvet cake is a part of the historical Juneteenth menu.

So, the potential that we might have is to have a historical tasting in the PBS building to have someone prepare just a tasting of the different foods that were part of the Juneteenth celebration.

And that's where the barbecue and the collard greens, and the macaroni and cheese and red velvet cake, and the strawberry soda, because slaves were not allowed to have that.

- Is that right?

- Correct, yes.

- That's a piece of history.

I mean, you're instructive.

You're teaching me right now.

So, I just thought red velvet cake was just, you know... - No, no, no.

That's why I go with the hot dog and the red velvet cake.

- America, right?

American hot dog, there's a connection where we all can integrate.

- Yes!

- So, I'll ask you this, and we're coming close to running out of time.

Is the Juneteenth celebration for everybody?

Or is it just for African-Americans?

Or can Caucasians and Hispanics, and everybody come and be a part of the celebration?

- It is for everyone.

- OK. - It is for everyone.

A part of our longitudinal planning is we also want to include some groups that have history in abolitionism.

So, the Quakers in the friends meetings.

But the event itself is for everyone, because it is American history.

It is authentic American history.

So, it is a celebration for everyone.

- Wonderful.

Wonderful.

How were you able to land SteelStacks?

That's a big deal.

I mean, it's a premiere venue here in the Lehigh Valley.

How did that all take place?

- Well, I'm going to turn it to Sue, because Sue and Carol were really... - OK. And Caleb, and they just kind of scouted out the land, because I was thinking of barbecue.

- In the backyard, by the pool!

So, Suzanne, how did this all come about?

It's amazing.

- It just fell into our advantage, really.

I think, we had different venues.

And we thought about the location, and the location, the ease of doing things and having the performers.

And when we were coming up with the plan, it all even made sense, we talked to somebody at ArtsQuest, and they were all over it.

And so, it didn't really take much for them to jump on board and say, "We want to do this, we want to be part of this."

And I said, "OK," I says, "Here we are, here we go."

You know?

So... - That's amazing.

- Yeah, yeah.

- When God opens a door, you just gotta walk through it.

- Caleb came back with a good report.

- That's right!

You sent her out, right?

I love that.

I love that.

Well, as we're as we're coming close to the end, how can folks get involved?

How can people support, how can people get engaged?

What needs to happen if they want to be a part of this Juneteenth celebration?

- Well, our website is going to launch March 15, because, again, we're newly-formed.

But in the meantime, if anyone wants to email me at, it's real easy.

KateBritt@PTD.net.

They can email me now until our website is launched, but we would love to have as many involved as possible.

Because again, it is Valley-wide.

- Yeah.

- And Valley representation.

And I'm so thankful for the Allentown and the Easton branches of the NAACP.

They're on board and supporting it, as well.

But they can email me at this point until our website is launched in March.

- Well, that's amazing.

I can just say kudos to you all for taking the step of faith, the leap of faith to do something that will unify, educate, inspire, and empower our community and communities around with us.

So often, when we think about the African-American community, we think it's a monolith, and it's not.

It takes all of us.

My dad had an old saying.

He'd say, "All of us, or none of us."

We have to learn to get together and to live together, and it's really wonderful to see this kind of effort going forward, and we stand in full support.

Your church supports you, too.

So, we are standing with you in believing that this is going to be not only a once-and-done, but it's going to continue on.

Thanks for taking the time to Dr. Karen Britt, to Sister Suzanne Fredricks, and to Hannah Elliot for taking the time to join us.

There are many people in the Lehigh Valley doing courageous work to engage and enhance the lives of others.

And we would like to put them in the spotlight.

If you would like us to highlight the courageous work of someone in your community, let us know by going to... We would love to hear your suggestions.

Viewers, make sure to stick around for Counter Culture with Grover Silcox.

His show is straight ahead.

I'm Pastor Phillip Davis.

On behalf of everyone here at PBS 39, Thanks for watching.