CELEBRATING EMANCIPATION DAY 2012: A UNIFYING RITUAL...

This year I have developed my own tradition of simple rituals for the celebration/observance of Emancipation Day.  On April 16, 1862 the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in The District of Columbia and in the Southern Slaveholding states which had illegally seceded from the Union in 1861. 

In my opinion, Emancipation celebrates those enslaved Blacks who died in struggle never knowing the feel of freedom and those who have continued to carry the torch of freedom in the wake of that event of global historical significance. 

I light three votive 3-day candles; one symbolic of the ancestors who died enslaved to be lit on the day prior to emancipation day and a second candle representative of the continuum of struggle by those who have experienced the sweetness and contradiction of our freedom from racial oppression.  The third candle represents the continuum of struggle, agitation and evolution, the cultivation of freedom for all peoples for all ages to come.  In groups at the lighting of the first candle or at some ceremonious time during the day it is appropriate to sing Work Songs and Hymns composed by enslaved ancestors hopeful of someday being freed from slavery.

The first candle is a red candle lit at sunrise of the prior day to Emancipation day and a period of contemplation is offered in respect of the nameless millions who perished in captivity.  The red candle represents the bloodline of our ancestors and the bloodshed of the cruel system of slavery and racial oppression.  When the sun has set on the prior day I have a simple meal comprised of foods that the ancestors would have enjoyed in captivity, “Soul Food”. 

On Emancipation Day the second candle is lit at dawn, it is a black or brown candle whichever is desired, this candle symbolizes the freed Black peoples.   A period of contemplation is observed at the lighting to assess the meaning of freedom.  In groups, at the lighting of the second candle or at some ceremonious time during that day I believe it is appropriate to sing the Black National Anthem. 

The day after Emancipation Day at sunrise the third, green candle is lit.  This last candle signifies the proliferation of freedom.  An invocation should be made to challenge men to cause freedom to grow and prosper by planting and nurturing the seeds of freedom and racial equality.  A period of silent contemplation should be observed to ponder the ways in which one can be an agent for positive change evaluating ones deeds over the past year and making a commitment to expand ones commitment to this cause. 

The candles should be placed in a special place, a safe place, where they can continue to burn uninterrupted until quenched.  Photographs of relatives of all generations both living and deceased or artifacts belonging to them might be arranged around the candles in memoriam of this celebration.  Families should keep special albums and collections of artifacts to be shared during this time of the year.  A family historian should be selected to archive the documents for posterity and to record narrative interviews of family members documenting the heroic events and accomplishments of their lives.  Video interviews of elderly and deceased relatives should be played and enjoyed at this time.  It is important to interview the elders of our families while they can still share their life's adventures.

The use of red, black/brown and green candles is no coincidence, it is a symbolic gesture borrowed from the Black liberation movement of the 1950's through 1970's.  The use of these colors ties together the concurrent history of civil rights in the  mid nineteenth century and the mid twentieth century.  The enormous power of icons, such as the American Flag itself and the African American Liberation Flag, are important tools for the preservation of history and consciousness within a memorializing ceremonies of Emancipation's Day.  Like the erection of permanent monuments to African Americans and their struggle, the legacy of such practices serves primarily to create solidarity and universality of thought and intent for a cause that is righteous but underwhelmingly observed by many Black Americans.

But Emancipation Day should not be just a solemn memorial for a violent past and tumultuous present and future it should also be a festive time and people should add feasts and galas, picnics and parties to commemorate this time.  It should inspire hope and engender friendship and community extending beyond the nuclear family and into the world…  After all, whether history duly credits it or not, the American civil rights movement of The United States was like a clarion call spreading the hopefulness of freedom and inspiring nations around the globe to follow in our lead, much as the American Revolutionary War had inspired the globe before it...

This is my way of celebrating Emancipation Day… It is the result of many long years of contemplation and comparison to other Emancipation and other traditions, such as the Jewish Passover for example, that memorialize the culmination of a period of socio-political struggle.  Like anything new, this is merely an idea and has much tweaking and refashioning to be done.  It is my opinion that all great traditions began in this way and have been refined and redefined over the long years of human history.  Whether history will look back upon my suggestion on how Emancipation Day might be observed is unknown but let this stand for the record as having been shared with the ages for their seasoned consideration...

FIN

Written by David Vollin

AGITATE!

AGITATE!

AGITATE!