Juneteenth 2022
Author’s Note, one year later: I love it when Past Me is looking out for Future Me! I had made plans to re-publish this story from my defunct WordPress website because the ‘Juneteenth Essay’ is something I want to continue for myself. But come to find out I already did that last July!
I guess past me knew that future me would keep forgetting throughout the morning to do the thing, and alas. Anyways, please enjoy this inaugural piece, which I’m so grateful is about my late grandfather, James Charles Jonnhson Sr. It has now been eleven years since his transition into the next phase of life.
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Epilogue: I wrote this piece not too long ago to commemorate the federal observation of the holiday. My late grandfather was honored that weekend and his legacy illuminated some things for me. I’m hoping to expand this piece soon, but for right now I want to re-publish the original work here. This month marks the ten-year anniversary of my grandfather’s transition into the next phase of life, so I think writing right now is important in many aspects. I hope you enjoy!
On Saturday, June 18th, 2022, North Carolina State Parks recognized the first few Black officials of the park system for this year’s Juneteenth celebration. 2021’s festivities (which was an especially significant year in that Juneteenth was made a federal holiday after the relentless activism of Opal Lee and others for decades) included an educational hike, with participants reading about the history of the holiday at different signposts along one of the park trails at William B. Umstead State Park. This year, they hosted a breakfast commemoration, honoring the service of Black superintendents Claude Crews, William Berry, and James Johnson Sr., my late grandfather.
My grandfather was the superintendent of Reedy Creek State Park, which was the park that Black folks could enjoy during segregation. The other side of the area, which lay toward the north of Wake County, was Crabtree Creek State Park, the park for white folks.
Though the parks were segregated and Black folks weren’t allowed into Crabtree Creek, white folks could cross over and stay in Reedy Creek with no problem whatsoever. By 1966, the parks were integrated and were renamed after former North Carolina governor William B. Umstead. My grandfather was the first Black superintendent over the entire, integrated park.
It’s from this history that Juneteenth’s meaning of freedom is expanded. Not only does it commemorate the freedom of all enslaved people in its historical context, but Black freedom in all its forms. The significance of Reedy Creek and the only other two parks in North Carolina for Black folks, Jones Lake (the first state park for Black folks in the U.S.) and Hammocks Beach, is that of mobility and self-determination, aspects of freedom that, paired with the integral boundlessness of nature itself, is prolific to Black being.
Hiking, swimming, camping, immersing oneself in nature because one wants to be. The fact that these parks were originally segregated, however, does pose a paradox to this understanding; is it truly freedom if barriers are put in place? The same goes for the pathways of escape through the Underground Railroad, the economic and social capital of Black Wilmington, N.C and Tulsa A.K, the necessity of The Negro Motorist Green Book, and countless other examples.
But the aspect that all of these avenues illuminate is one of the most integral aspects of freedom; transcendence. Despite the ever-evolving barriers, we move because we exist.
Therefore, in celebrating Black freedom, we celebrate Black existence in a culture that so often tries to erase it.
Thinking about this helps in personally crafting a Juneteenth celebration. Since the tragedies of 2020 and the subsequent global reckoning (I use ‘reckoning’ loosely) with anti-Blackness, I’ve made celebrating Juneteenth a priority. Hailing from North Carolina, Juneteenth festivities weren’t as highly promoted or practiced like in Texas.
But the social and cultural shift in recognition of the holiday has ushered in a plethora of statewide programs and activities that make it more accessible to learn and participate. I hope N.C. State Parks continue Juneteenth celebrations, because Saturday’s program was so meaningful to my family that it would be more than lovely to make it a tradition to attend every year and exercise our rights to engage in the wonders of nature. Celebrating my grandfather’s legacy within the greater project of Black freedom and all its facets is a vast expression of Black joy, which is what we experienced among the pines this year.
Now that we get a day off for Juneteenth, I think learning about the various forms of Black freedom and the continuous fight for liberation is a great way to spend that time (along with rest, of course! Please make time for rest). I’ve provided some great resources for further learning, along with a podcast where my uncle, Jame Johnson Jr., details the history of Reedy Creek and my grandfather’s role!
Happy Juneteenth 2022!
For Further Learning
Ask a Ranger: Reedy Creek State Park; A Personal History of Segregation (podcast)
