Suggested Schedule
5:30-5:45 - registration, gather, get snacks, move into main gathering room
5:45-6:00 - welcome, introduction to the week (main goals, frequently asked questions, reasons for offering this program, basic housekeeping)
6:00-6:30 - Juneteenth presentation
6:30-7:20 - break into 3 groups by age (adults, teens, elementary age) and rotate between 3 stations (craft/story, game, crosses/art - 20 minutes each)
7:15-7:30 - regather in large group for final remarks and to invite everyone back for tomorrow! Close with a group singing of "Lift Every Voice and Sing!"
Food
A Juneteenth Dessert Table
homemade Tea Cakes (we used a recipe we found online at http://www.grandbaby-cakes.com/2014/02/southern-tea-cakes/);
strawberry soda & strawberry lemonade
strawberries and watermelon.
The red foods and drinks commemorate the blood of those who died under slavery and those who fought for Emancipation. Tea cakes are a traditional treat for Juneteenth celebrations.
Decorations
Freedom Celebrations & African Themes
We hung a Juneteenth banner and decorated with red, white, and blue, and American flags. Because Juneteenth is about freedom, it is like a second 4th of July, and similar decorations are appropriate.
We also had fancy hats and dresses for the ladies to wear, like those you would wear to church. Fancy dress and even beauty pageants are a traditional part of Juneteenth celebrations. Before Emancipation, many African-Americans were not allowed to wear nice clothes, even if they were not enslaved. Dressing up is a privilege of freedom.
Christian art and crosses from around the world
Craft
Freedom Quilt Blocks
We had squares of fabric cut in various colors in 10”x10” squares (this included a 1/2” seam for piecing them together, so that the finished quilt once sewn together had 9”x9” squares showing).
We also had pieces of felt ready, and patterns based on the “Freedom Quilts” supposedly used along the Underground Railroad, mostly simple triangles and rectangles of fabric.
We used the patterns called North Star, Log Cabin, Crossroads, Flying Geese, and Bowtie. Each pattern was printed on a page, along with an explanation of what the pattern meant. Patterns were taken from the website https://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.ca/2014/06/quilt-code-game.html
We gave each person their choice of pattern, fabric square, and felt pieces, and had space set up for them to assemble them, using tacky glue. (In our experience, the felt pieces had to be sewn on, before they could be assembled into a finished banner or quilt.)
Game
Mancala
Mancala is an African game found in variations all around the continent. We used the instructions found at http://www.mariespastiche.com/2014/03/west-african-game-how-to-make-and-play.html to make several game boards and to teach the game using the Oware variation from Ghana. We had egg carton game boards made up before the night of the event, although making them could be a fun craft in itself. We used beans as markers. We were fortunate enough to have a large version that one of our committee had brought back from Africa, and used that to teach the game.
Teaching
Christianity as an Incarnational Religion
using the Christian art and crosses from around the world, invite the group to guess where each piece is from. If you have a story about how the piece was purchased or how it came to be in your town, share it. Invite people to reflect on how it feels to see familiar stories and images in new ways.
This is especially powerful if you have images that depict Jesus as African, Asian, or in any way other than the white man we usually see.
This is an entry into a discussion about the Christian doctrine of Incarnation, which asserts that God comes to us as we are, in order to better relate to us and understand us, and so that we know that we are not alone.
An extension of this doctrine of Incarnation asserts that no depiction of Jesus or God is incorrect, because God is not contained by or defined by any human form. God blesses ALL of creation in the incarnation, not just one particular race or gender.
If you think it is appropriate, you may want to include an image of Christ Sophia, an icon written by Br. Robert Lentz, OFM, available online and in his collection Christ in the Margins, a book of his icons published in 2003, by Orbis Books.
Juneteenth/Christianity/African-American Culture
Day 1
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing is known as the Black National Anthem. James Weldon Johnson first wrote Life Ev’ry Voice and Sing as a poem. It was set to music in 1899 by his brother, John Rosamond Johnson. It was performed by a school choir during Lincoln’s Birthday celebration on February 12, 1900 in Jacksonville, Florida. Now, the song is known as the Black National Anthem, an anthem singing of the oppressive past of African Americans and hope for a better future. [This song is in the Public Domain and does not require copyright licensing to use or reproduce.]
