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By Ryan Smith

MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

Juneteenth marks a day to remember.

It’s also a day to celebrate the future, and to educate younger generations about the past sacrifices that led to the June day in 1865 when the last slaves were freed in the United States.

“We try to let them know the freedom they have now wasn’t free,” said Denise Jones, treasurer for the Meadville chapter of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and an organizer of Thursday’s Juneteenth Community Picnic Celebration at Diamond Park. “They need to understand their past in order to thoroughly enjoy their futures.”

To get that message across, the NAACP hosted this year’s June 19 celebration — “Freedom Rings: Remembering the Past, Celebrating the Future” — at an easily-accessible central location and included historical interpreters, cultural and educational presentations, music, artifacts, picnic food, games and more.

“The celebration is for everyone who values freedom and unity,” chapter President Sam Byrd said recently. “Residents of this area are the heirs of a proud American legacy, and we hope for a good turnout to publicly celebrate our unity as sisters and brothers in one nation under God.”

Events included the Harry T. Burleigh Society hosting historic interpreters Adrianne Rush, who portrayed Burleigh’s mother, Elizabeth Waters; and Johnny Johnson, who portrayed Waters’ father and Underground Railroad conductor Hamilton Waters.

An Erie native, Burleigh was a world-renowned composer famous for his arrangements of African-American spirituals.

Charles Kennedy Jr., a rostered artist with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, presented “The Quiet Heroes of the Underground Railroad,” which included a soulful rendition of the spiritual “Keep Your Hands on the Plow.”

“Each of us was put here for a reason,” he told the crowd. “When you find out what you’re supposed to be doing with your life, you just keep your hands on that plow and you’ll be fine.”

Kennedy also presented a tribute to Nat King Cole, sharing stories about the singer and some of the songs he made famous.