A Ritual of Remembrance for our Enslaved Ancestors

 It’s just weeks away now and here at Omnira Institute, we are already preparing for Juneteenth.

Historically, Juneteenth is actually one of many freedom festivals African Americans established as slavery was abolished. January 1 was known as Emancipation Day in several states, while in Tennessee and Kentucky, celebrations took place on August 8.

But Juneteenth is the commemoration that not only never faded away but gained more renown in recent years with celebrations and observations in Northern, Midwest and Western states.

 It started in Texas fully 2 ½ years after freedom had been declared by President Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and six weeks after the Union had won the Civil War with the help of more than 200,000 black soldiers. The announcement was read to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.

The news was greeted with joy, tears, and prayers of gratitude that Jubilee – the code word used for centuries referring to freedom – had finally come.

Through research, I learned that Juneteenth, like other Emancipation Days, began with morning prayer at the local churches. There, thanks and praise were given to God, and testimony of remembrance which was also where the afternoon festivities would occur: the picnics, the beauty contests, the speeches.

But unlike many Juneteenth celebrations, ours is a Ritual of Remembrance

We have reserved the picnic area near the Lake Merritt boathouse, where our standing choir, Awon Ohun Omnira will symbolically re-enact the arrival of African captives with a short procession from the dock area. On the way, we will sing the mournful songs of the ancestors as remembered by people from what is now Nigeria.

As we approach a small grove where we set an altar in front of an old oak tree, our chants and drums will mingle with those of members of the First Nation, whose presence represents the oft-forgotten fact that natives were enslaved by European colonists as well.

 From there, we will offer prayers in remembrance of those who were enslaved through the languages, faiths, and cultures they had before arriving here: Native, African, Abrahamic and Eastern (Buddhist or Taoist.)

We will also enact the Ring Shout, which is a distinctly African American cultural ritual that tells the story of the enslaved and their descendants.

Shout for Freedom with us this year June 9th 2024,

See you there!!