My late father's birthday is on "Juneteenth"

My late father Ralph E. Williams is third from left in photo of a meeting at UMM. Thanks to Erin Christensen for this photo.

 

We are hearing more about "Juneteenth" than when I was younger. It's more of an official holiday now. Still not sure to what extent it is an "official" holiday. I guess at the Federal level it is. That is a nice thing. 

The irony absolutely drips as we notice that certain high-profile political people like Mike Pence and Ron DeSantis want to keep the names of Confederate generals on forts. But that's the sort of confusing world we find ourselves inhabiting now. 

"Groundhog Day" continues - my characterization - as I awaken Monday morning to once again see some of the top headlines dealing with the tussle between Trump/Trumpism and the forces for good and for logic. The forces for good and for logic should have won by now, a long time ago in fact. Life goes on and can we hope it remains at least livable for most Americans?

Will Trump rise again to create a national complexion like what happened in Germany in the 1930s? Because surely, if he seizes power again he will never leave. So can't we all just do something about it? I plea. Does anyone listen? Maybe not. 

My late father probably had little knowledge about Juneteenth as he was growing up. He'd be proud to know today that it coincides with his birthday. Yes, today, June 19, would be my late father's birthday. He'd be 107 years old. He passed away in 2013 at the age of 96. He passed at his precious home of Northridge Drive. It's down the road from the soils lab. What's up with the dirt portion of Iowa Avenue now? That's right at the entrance to the highway. Apparently more work to be done there, but it's taking quite a while. Dirt roads do not stand up well to regular use - they get bumpy. 

We have some important people on Northridge Drive - me excluded - so you'd think the progress would be faster. You cannot drive "as the crow flies" from our neighborhood to the Morris business district. Never could. So that can be a minor inconvenience with living here. On the whole though it is wonderful. My family were very early residents in this neck of the woods. Dad purchased the lot from farmer Earn Julius. Earn wasn't just a farmer, he was on the Morris school board. He also had a strong interest in local baseball. 

I myself never heard much about "Juneteenth" through the years. Technically the reference should be "June 19th" of course. I read once that the freed slaves, having been burdened by such limited education, were using in effect broken English by saying "Juneteenth." Just trivia. 

The day is occasion to recognize and celebrate the day when enslaved African-Americans were emancipated. The holiday's resonance has grown in the last few years. Because it happens outside of the school year, I'm not sure this is the kind of holiday (yet) that would call for schools to be closed. 

A reckoning with racial justice? Legacy of slavery? But then how do we reconcile this with the pretty sizeable element in this country - "MAGA" - that is sympathetic to wanting to keep Confederate generals' names on forts? Such strange times. We are a stone's throw from absolute autocracy. We really are, so don't just shrug. 

"Groundhog Day" persists as day after day we learn of Trump's absolute criminal and autocratic intentions, and it's in our face with daily headlines. "Alice Through the Looking Glass." So bizarre. The lifting up of Juneteenth in our national consciousness is certainly a countervailing force. A sufficient countervailing force? Like "Pride Month?" 

Trump does appear to be within reach of the presidency again. What a reign of terror would surely follow. This time he'd stack the justice department totally with "his people." We could get show trials with executions. Executions perhaps televised. Think that's an absurd thought? What happened in 1930s Germany? The German people are not stupid. "It Can't Happen Here" was the name of a Sinclair Lewis book, the author's point being that it can. 

 

Invoking Don Knotts?

"Juneteenth" is the nation's youngest Federal holiday. The Emancipation Proclamation was made effective through the 13th Amendment. I smile as I recall one of the most memorable scenes of Don Knotts' acting. Know what I'm talking about? So the "Andy of Mayberry" gang was in one of their typical moments of relaxation. Someone broached the Emancipation Proclamation and this called for some elucidation by someone. Barney Fife! Yes indeed. 

It became clear that the affable Barney did not have encyclopedic knowledge. So he tried pretending that he did - typical of Barney. He said the proclamation happened at a time when a bunch of people felt the need to be "emancipated." Hence the "Emancipation Proclamation." Got it? His delivery was priceless. 

The proclamation at the time it was passed still could not be enforced in secessionist states still under Confederate control. Today with MAGA and the likes of Lindsey Graham, I have to wonder if Southern states still think they can win the Civil War. Seriously. But how to explain how totally Republican the states of North and South Dakota have become? That's a poser. 

Two years after the Proclamation, Union general Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston Bay, TX, with 2,000 Union troops to proclaim that more than 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free. 

"Juneteenth" today seeks to broadly observe African-American culture. Kind of remindful of "Kwanzaa" that coincides with the Christians' Christmas. 

Shall Christians continue to be proud of their faith? It is getting so much harder. The hardened "evangelicals," in other words the flat-earth people, were probably the key force in helping Donald Trump achieve power. 

Christianity may ultimately have to answer for all that has happened. 

Black people have been far more magnanimous with their Kwanzaa holiday: It started out in a rebellious way as a way of vying with Christmas, then it softened considerably. Today its adherents say "do your own thing" at that time of year, so live and let live. I have read that Kwanzaa has a strong emphasis on food. Hey, where can I sign up? Apparently Kwanzaa did not originate in Africa at all. No big deal. 

But "Juneteenth" is American, probably a day when white people ought to hang their heads some. Shame. But if you're fighting to keep the names of Confederate generals on forts - American traitors - you probably feel no shame. What hath God wrought? 

Dad, at UMM's inception

My father would be proud that his birthday coincides with a date that has significance for the eradication of discrimination in America. He was as you know the founder of UMM music. This is proclaimed on our family monument at Summit Cemetery. Also proclaimed is Dad's service in WWII with the Navy. He was lieutenant. He graduated from Glenwood High School in 1934. That was the peak of John Dillinger times. 

Also the peak of the Great Depression which had a lasting impact for Dad. He never got over appreciating every nickel or penny in his possession. He passed that sensibility on to yours truly. 

But I broke away big-time when deciding to supply funds in our family name to benefit UMM, specifically music. 

There is a fall-back or contingency for the Fund. I have told the UMM people that I'd be happy if in fact someday the $ went to benefit music at the Twin Cities campus. 

How solid is the future of UMM music? I did not anticipate the retreat when I first established the Fund. Most recently there was no band or choir for UMM graduation. What a shock. My goodness, I just took that for granted through the years. The band and choir had featured numbers during the program. Now we get a recording for "Pomp and Circumstance." Lordy. 

 

More slippage

And now I get word there will be no UMM Homecoming concert! That's just as much of a shock. Again, it's something many of us once took for granted. We can take nothing for granted in connection to UMM any more. Nothing. Enrollment drops. Yes it seems to be happening everywhere. But we were not a terribly big campus to begin with. 

I'm anxious to see what Janet Schrunk Ericksen has up her sleeve. Any magic tricks? At least we still have football. St. Cloud State gave up on that. 

So, my father probably heard little about Juneteenth when young, but I'm sure he would not have known what a "non-binary person" was. Change just sweeps over us sometimes, then we have to catch our breath. Would Dad have directed a "gay men's chorus?" Oh I think he would. Anything to celebrate the joy of music. Plus he was an accepting person. 

Our family has a black bench monument in the new portion of Summit Cemetery. You're all welcome to stop by and "sit a spell." Mom is remembered there as a "diligent worker at UMM."

Dad directs the choir at the University of Minnesota-St. Paul campus, 1950s. Yours truly was pre-school for taking some of that in. The years in St. Paul were the most precious of my life. I still remember the hill where Mom took me to go sledding.
 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com