MEMBERS of the local community on Sunday celebrated Juneteenth at the Civic Center beach in Susupe.
Also known as Freedom Day, Emancipation Day and Black Independence Day, Juneteenth, which is now a national holiday, commemorates the June 19, 1865 announcement of Union Army Gen. Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas, the last Confederate state with institutional slavery.
Sunday’s Juneteenth event at the civic center was hosted by retired teacher Ambrose Bennett, former Coastal Resources Management Director Dr. John Joyner and attorney Joe Hill.
Joining them were Rep. Tina Sablan, her father Eugenio Sablan, Sen. Edith Deleon Guerrero, Indigenous Affairs Program Manager Crispin Ogo, local artist Ben “Lamlam” San Nicolas, local entrepreneur Peter Muna, attorney Stephen Woodruff, retired teacher Luella Marciano, Saipan Seventh-day Adventist School Principal Lylton Powell, teacher Debra Powell and other local residents.
They brought food, drinking water, other beverages and a canopy.
Aside from a story-sharing session, participants played horseshoes, dominos and cards. They also “reminisced” about the old days, how things worked for the African American community and how some other things about them are still “a struggle.”
“It is really a special day for our African American community and for our entire community to recognize the significance of Juneteenth and the Emancipation of slaves in America and really the end of slavery in our country and I’m really glad to be part of it,” Rep. Tina Sablan said.
Bennett said when he was growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, he knew that “things weren’t right.” He said he wished he was white so he would be treated fairly and have a good chance in life. Then came James Brown and his hit song, “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud.”
“And it changed me,” Bennett said. “Since then, I’ve been on the right path.”
But today, he added, “we are still climbing the ladder” because a lot of people still don’t realize the significance of Juneteenth.
He said African Americans are no longer slaves, but it doesn’t mean they are being treated equally.
He said the “equation” is equality plus freedom equals American Dream. “I am hoping that equation will become our national slogan,” he added.
For the African Americans living in the CNMI, he said Juneteenth means a lot. As for local residents, he said, “I am pretty sure they are all appreciative of African Americans. They can relate because our struggles are also their struggles.”
Members of the African American community on Saipan pose with Rep. Tina Sablan and other local residents during the Juneteenth celebration on Sunday, at the Civic Center beach in Susupe.
Juneteenth host, retired teacher Ambrose Bennett, second right, back row, with former Coastal Resources Management Director Dr. John Joyner, second right seated, Saipan Seventh-day Adventist School Principal Lylton Powell, left seated, teacher Debra Powell, second left seated, local artist Ben “Lamlam” San Nicolas, second left backrow, attorney Stephen Woodruff, center, Indigenous Affairs Program Manager Crispin Ogo, and other members of the local community.
