The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners has proclaimed June 19 Juneteenth Day in Multnomah County, the first time the body has issued a proclamation recognizing the day.
Juneteenth, a portmanteau of June and nineteenth, recognizes the day in 1865 that news of the abolition of slavery reached Texas. The announcement came more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, African Americans across the country gather on Juneteenth to celebrate freedom. Communities in Multnomah County have gathered to celebrate the day since 1945.
“I am proud to live in a County that celebrates Juneteenth in a most official and public manner,” said Commissioner Loretta Smith, who sponsored the proclamation passed on Thursday, June 14. “Juneteenth to me is a story of resolve, rejoicing and restoration.”
The County’s proclamation honors Avel Gordly, the first African-American woman to serve as a state senator in Oregon. As a state senator, Gordly sponsored the 2001 resolution declaring Juneteenth as a day for celebration statewide of the dignity and freedom of all citizens of Oregon.
Gordly’s “passion for social justice, holistic health and beloved community shows up in her public service and community relationships,” the proclamation reads. “Her passion and empathy for others and her steadfast advocacy and leadership have given others encouragement and hope.”
“This is a day to acknowledge the emancipation of freedom seekers — ancestors who sought freedom from the horrors of captivity and forced slavery. This is a day to celebrate the survivors who made it possible for us to live,” Gordly said. “This is a day to affirm the dignity and worth and freedom of all people in a time when the forces of evil are working to further corrupt our spirits and our principles, to corrupt fairness and justice and to destroy democracy.”
Quoting Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. several times, Gordly called on attendees to prepare for, recognize, and resist abuses of power.
“Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenges of change,” Gordly said. “We are the correcting influence and we are awake and so let us show more kindness to one another. Let us build a beloved community that our children can inherit.”
The celebration also included a display of artwork from painter Sade Beasley and song, dance and spoken word performances.
The rapper 3rd Twin shared his experience with battling addiction and suicidal ideations.
“If it wasn’t for bad, I wouldn’t have no luck,” he rapped in the song “Honesty,” a revealing story of some of his lowest points.
In the hopeful song “Fade Away,” he rapped: “We’re going to let the bad memories fade away and we’re going to focus on the future. ...Stay focused on your dreams; they might just take flight.”