Women were long in charge of our family celebrations. But in 1984, a group of men stepped up to organize the community and recover the early traditions.
What I remember about the Juneteenth of my girlhood is the sound of music and how our parents could cha-cha all night long. I remember Mr. Stroke’s face in the light of the fire pit at night and how Uncle Robert’s brisket would shoot juice when you bit into it. I remember the shade-tree stories about some hundred plus years ago. About chains, forced labor, and withheld freedom. And I remember that when it came to Juneteenth, unlike most other days, we looked to the men.
From her girlhood, my mother remembers her male counterparts cutting out of Lubbock altogether. Often, they left and spent time away from home, moving from town to town, city to city, state to state, in search of work and better resources and opportunities, returning occasionally to spend time with families they left behind. One of her favorite uncles was a drifter; he left in the 1960s, lived his life on the road full time, and never had a consistent address.
When I asked her what the women thought after the men stepped into the organizing spotlight, my mother smiled like she was gone to another time. She said they didn’t mind moving in the shadows for that brief period once a year. “Holding them up was holding us up too,” she said.
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