Culinary historian Michael Twitty will be doing two presentations at the Juneteenth celebration in Columbus.
Photo provided
As a Civil War re-enactor, North Vernon resident Terry Furgason is accustomed to dramatically ushering the past firmly into the present.
His role on June 22, however, will mark a first: portraying U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, the person who officially read aloud the governmental edict on June 19, 1865, that all slaves in Texas were free. That was the final state to take such action of freedom after the country’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863.
Texas’ historic happening is known today as Juneteenth, a name originating from the casual merging of the words June and 19th. These days, it is a federal holiday and a celebration of the official end of slavery, and it has been a growing event in downtown Columbus for more than 20 years.
The Columbus/Bartholomew County Branch of the NAACP has organized the free event “Juneteenth Jubilee 2024: Healing Our Soul” beginning at 11:3o a.m. featuring food for purchase, music, varied arts and clothing vendors, a children’s zone, two Black history tours, and more along Fourth Street. Plus, a Black history panel is scheduled at 1:30 p.m. at the nearby Crump Theatre.
Furgason, who once lived in Texas, will wear formal Civil War-period garb — “sword and all,” as he put it — for the reading at the local gathering of Juneteenth. Though Furgason is white, he believes this segment of the nation’s yesterday is huge.
“This is something that everyone should know,” said Furgason, a retired teacher.
After he was asked to be in his planned role at the local event slated along Fourth Street downtown, Furgason completed a little research on Granger. He found that the military man paid a price for lending his voice to freedom.
“Afterward, he was shunned by a lot of whites at the time,” Furgason said.
The weekend’s free celebration is just one of eight local, Juneteenth-related events being offered via Black History Month Columbus, the entity that has helped plan and coordinate a broad mix of local programs in February for the past two years to mark Black History Month.
Nationally known culinary historian and author Michael Twitty, the featured guest for the event, will speak during two presentations.
In a pre-Juneteenth address from 10 to 11:30 a.m., he will present “Keeping Family Recipes Alive” at a location organizers still were determining at press time. He will speak again from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m. on “How I Found My Soul In Soul Food.”
He is the author of “The Cooking Gene,” published by HarperCollins/Amistad, which won the 2018 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Book of the Year.
In 2010, to share his work, Twitty launched Afroculinaria, a blog that highlights and addresses food’s critical role in the development and definition of African American civilization and the politics of consumption and cultural ownership that surround it.
Besides being Black, Twitty also is Jewish.
“Blacks and Jews are the only people I know who use food to talk about their past while they eat it,” Twitty said in his promotional material.
Caribbean native Garth Smith, known locally as DJ Smooth G, will provide a daylong soundtrack during the food and festivities. He served in the same role last year, and expects this year’s songs to include the music of artists such as Bob Marley, Prince, Bruno Mars and perhaps throwback tunes from acts such as Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam. He referred to some of his planned playlist as “R&B disco.”
“I’m just glad to be able to make a contribution to all this (celebration),” Smith said.
About 600 people attended last year’s Juneteenth event. Tracey Clark, the local NAACP’s vice president who coordinates the gathering, would like to see the attendance grow. But she also realizes that June 22 marks the first full day of the 2024 Bartholomew County 4-H Fair.
“Our hope,” Clark said, “is that a lot of people can come downtown first that day, and then hit the fair later when the midway opens.”
About the event
What: “Juneteenth Jubilee 2024: Healing Our Soul,” presented by the Columbus/Bartholomew County Branch of the NAACP.
When: 11:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. June 22.
Where: Along Fourth Street in downtown Columbus.
Admission: Free, with a variety of food and drink for purchase.
Information: Facebook page for Juneteenth Jubilee 2024: Healing Our Soul.
