Juneteenth: Reconnecting with Our Ancestors and with Nature

On June 19, 1865, Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas and read aloud General Order No. 3, which declared that all enslaved people were free. It is important to point out that this declaration was delivered more than two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation…

A year later, Juneteenth became a holiday that was celebrated within Black communities, including families and churches in Texas, and was carried forward annually, making it the oldest continuing African American celebration in the U.S. In 1980, the Texas legislature officially recognized Emancipation Day as a legal state holiday.

Opal Lee, known as the “Godmother of Juneteenth” began her valiant campaign to have Juneteenth recognized as a national holiday in 2016, and in 2021, President Biden signed it into law as a federal holiday.

Even before Juneteenth became an official national holiday, the tradition spread across the U.S. (likely influenced by Black migration patterns) and is marked with celebrations that point to the recognition of resilience and is largely centered around food.

With the first cookbook dedicated to Juneteenth, author Nicole A. Taylor was certainly intentional in selecting the title Watermelon and Red Birds, not only in turning the negative trope surrounding the fruit on its head but also in making the connection to the ancestors and birds. Taylor states:

“And red birds? Just thinking about why I added ‘Red Birds’ to the title makes me smile. That’s because when I was growing up, my mother used to tell me this story: Any time you see a red bird coming around you, she’d say, that means there’s someone from the family who has passed on coming back to say hello. She said it symbolized good luck, and I should blow them a kiss. And so I knew that Watermelon and Red Birds was the perfect title to honor the past, the present and the future.”

This Juneteenth, we invite you to go outside and reconnect with our ancestors and nature. Gather friends, family, and fellow birders and see how many red birds you spot, including birds such as the Summer Tanager and Northern Cardinal. Also, if you want to bring Nicole Taylor’s Juneteenth inspired recipes to your gathering, add Watermelon and Red Birds to your library.

Happy Juneteenth!

Beija Flor Travel

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