WHY JUNETEENTH IS SO IMPORTANT MUSICALLY! Our shame, our joy, our debt to African Americans the world over!
by BARBIE COLEMAN
JUNETEENTH (June 19th) is an important National Holiday in America. Here’s why: it celebrates the LIBERATION of ENSLAVED PEOPLES in America. It’s also a time to reflect on the SHAME of America’s (and other countries’) history, and what we owe AFRICAN AMERICAN PEOPLE, the world over.
From a musical perspective, America — and the world — owes EVERYTHING to the enslaved AFRICAN AMERICANS whose talent, determination and beauty of spirit sealed their musical legacy. We all owe them our GRATITUDE for what they gave us musically.
So today, on this moving and massively important day, we’re celebrating it with MUSIC.
Before we do that though, let’s look back to 1865 when over 250,000 enslaved African people living in Texas were FINALLY FREED! President Abraham Lincoln had issued his Emancipation Proclamation two years earlier, so when Texas learned the news, they took action! One hundred and fifty-eight years ago, today, in Galveston, Texas, General Gordon Granger succumbed to reason and decency, and read “General Order №3” aloud through the streets, officially freeing ALL enslaved people in the State.
From that day forward, AFRICAN AMERICANS were FREE from cruel slave masters and body-breaking labor picking cotton, harvesting crops, and running the households of wealthy Americans.
Today, and every year since that beautiful Monday on June 19, 1865, JUNETEENTH, also called “JUBILEE DAY,” Americans all across the nation have joined hands and hearts for what’s been called “America’s Second Independence Day.” Since the General’s proclamation of “African American Emancipation Day,” our nation has celebrated this momentous holiday.
Two years ago, on June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the “Juneteenth National Independence Day Act” into law, making JUNETEENTH a National Holiday in America!
So let’s JOIN HANDS around the world with our African-American friends, families, clients, music artists, and FREE PEOPLE everywhere, as we enjoy this heartwarming, upbeat GOSPEL track — “HIS LOVE (VOCAL),” by RUBY COLLINS — part of our “GOSPEL JOYFUL SPIRIT” playlist.
This beautiful CHRISTIAN SONG won our “EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD” a couple of years ago for its inspiring sincerity, and RUBY COLLINS’ heartfelt lyrics and voice!
Listen the beautiful RUBY COLLINS track “HIS LOVE (VOCAL)” here.
And RUBY COLLINS’ bio is so impressive. “NY singer-songwriter Ruby Collins has touched the hearts of countless Gospel fans throughout her storied career both personally and professionally. Billboard has said that “her forte is a smooth, jazzy pop/amalgam dazzlingly reminiscent of early Roberta Flack,” and The Gospel Times said that “she sings from the heart with plenty of soul.” In 1995, Ruby was chosen to sing at the White House for the National Peace Officers Memorial Day, and she has also performed on The Rosie O’Donnell Show, Life Time Television, and Oprah’s New Attitude.’ ”
So today, let’s take some time to give thanks to the monumental musical legacy of our AFRICAN AMERICAN brothers and sisters and their ancestors, and play their music LOUD with LOVE!
Click this link for hours of grace-filled music celebrating LOVE and FREEDOM with spirited artists like RUBY COLLINS here on our “GOSPEL JOYFUL SPIRIT” playlist.
HAPPY “AFRICAN AMERICAN EMANCIPATION DAY” — JUNETEENTH!
Your friends at RADIOSPARX.
