Your Week: Why we created Juneteenth special section

Happy Sunday! Happy Father’s Day!

Um, should I also say Happy Juneteenth?

That’s how new this federal holiday is. As I write this, I’m not sure “happy” is the appropriate word.

After all, are we celebrating Juneteenth? Commemorating? Grieving? More on this in a sec.

I should introduce myself. I’m Gary Estwick. Last month, I returned to The Tennessean in a new role. One of the many hats I wear is editor of Race and Culture. My first challenge: co-lead “Free-ish,” the USA TODAY Network’s Juneteenth special section.

My biggest motivation for completing this project? Frederick Douglass, the great abolitionist and orator. (Following his escape from slavery, he visited Nashville; some of his descendants now live in the area.)

I was moved by his words, hanging on a wall at the National Museum of African American Music here in Nashville. I think his analysis of the enslaved singing from plantation fields will move you, too. Read about it here.

Also, children's issues reporter Keith Sharon led an all-star cast of reporters to tackle the subject of how to spend Juneteenth. Two of his interviews: Kevin Douglass Greene, the great-great-grandson of Frederick Douglass. Also, Evelyn Green, Kevin’s daughter.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from Keith’s interview with Kevin Douglass Greene: "To make changes, you have to be visible and, in some cases, vulnerable."

Also in Nashville, music reporter Marcus Dowling virtually interviewed actor/comedian Anthony Anderson and professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. about Black families discovering family lineage lost during slavery.

Tonyaa Weathersbee, our Memphis-based columnist, said she plans to enjoy barbecue ribs, baked beans and strawberry sodas on Juneteenth, while reveling in how her ancestors cobbled together merriment out of the misery that was slavery.

“But no food or drink will completely mask the bitter taste in my mouth over the fact that now,” she writes, “the full story of our existence in this nation and our progress in it is being stifled because it’s too uncomfortable for some to hear. Or to accept. And how, in more than 150 years, that has yet to change.”

On a lighter note, columnist Michael Barnes in Austin penned a story about one of the oldest jubilee celebrations in the nation. Dateline St. John Colony, Texas, where descendants of the founding families are preparing for a treat: 150 years of freedom.

In Mississippi, food writer Todd Price told the story of Chef Enrika Williams, a proud Mississippi native who plans to once again transform an event space into a rural juke joint of the past. Get ready for boiled peanuts, potato salad, spaghetti with meat sauce, fried whiting with the tails still attached, banana pudding, 7-Up pound cake and of course, smoked brisket, a nod to Texas.

I’ll also mention one of my favorite stories: Tiffany Cusaac-Smith, a racial justice reporter for USA TODAY, wrote about parents discussing Juneteenth with their children.

Click here to discover the entire project.

'What are we celebrating?'

When I was approached several weeks ago to co-lead our Juneteenth coverage, I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. My early thoughts:

“What one message can we deliver about a fairly new federal holiday which, depending on where you live, still feels like a Lone Star State celebration?”

I asked around.

“What are we celebrating? We’re not free?”

“Why should I care about a Texas holiday? I live in Ohio.”

“I’ve heard of Juneteenth, but what is it?”

Then I realized the variance in opinions was the story. Unlike a long list of American traditions that later became federal holidays, Juneteenth took the opposite path. Little-known (to some) to federal holiday.

Will Juneteenth ever enjoy the same fervor as Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Independence Day and other federal holidays?

Not sure.

But for now, we wanted to feature a variety of Black voices, all trying to figure it out.

What am I do doing on Juneteenth?

A little bit of everything.

Learning something about the journey the enslaved survived in America and challenges of a different kind that their descendants face today. Grub on some BBQ. Celebrate freedom. And at some point, absolutely nothing.

I invite you to do the same.

And please, help us continue to create projects like this. Good journalism takes time and a lot of resources. 

Thank you for reading and subscribing.

— Gary Estwick, The Tennessean