A Juneteenth Celebration
Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 2:00 pm
a free live streamed event from Caffè Lena
Reading
Excerpts from the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation, and from General Order No. 3
Declaration of Independence
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Emancipation Proclamation
That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free
General Orders
On June 19th, 1865: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.
Declaration
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
Emancipation (cont.)
and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
General Orders (cont.)
This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.
Declaration (cont.)
That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness
Musical Selections:
Stand the Storm (arr. Tim Amukele)
Laura Soto-Bayomi
Stand the storm, it won’t be long, you will anchor by and by.
Your ship is on the ocean, you will anchor by and by;
Your ship is on the ocean, you will anchor by and by.
You’re heading for the kingdom where you’ll anchor by and by;
You’re heading for the kingdom where you’ll anchor by and by.
Your mother’s in the kingdom, you will anchor by and by;
Your mother’s in the kingdom, you will anchor by and by.
Stand the storm, it won’t be long, you will anchor by and by;
Stand , there’ll be anchor by and by.
Stand the storm, it won’t be long;
Stand the storm, it won’t be long;
Stand the storm, it won’t be long, you will anchor by and by.
Hold on, it won’t be long;
Hold on, it won’t be long;
Hold on, it won’t be long;
You will anchor, anchor, anchor, anchor, anchor, anchor, by and by.
Deep River (arr. H.T. Burleigh)
Aidan Smerud
Deep river, my home is over Jordan,
Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.
Deep river, my home is over Jordan,
Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.
Oh, don’t you want to go to that gospel feast,
That promis’d land where all is peace?
Oh, deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands (arr. Margaret Bonds)
Bradley Bickhardt
He’s got the whole world in His hand,
He’s got the whole world in His hand,
He’s got the whole world in His hand,
He’s got the whole world in His hand.
He’s got the woods and the waters in His hand,
He’s got the woods and the waters in His hand,
He’s got the sun and the moon right in His hand,
He’s got the whole world in His hand.
He’s got the birds and the bees right in His hand,
He’s got the birds and the bees right in His hand,
He’s got the beasts of the field right in His hand,
He’s got the whole world in His hand.
He’s got you and me right in His hand,
He’s got you and me right in His hand,
He’s got ev’rybody in His hand,
He’s got the whole world in His hand,
He’s got the whole world in His hand.
This Little Light of Mine (arr. Hale Smith)
Blake Jennings
This little light of mine, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
Ev’rywhere I go, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
All through the night, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
All through the night, I’m goin’ to let it shine.
All through the night I’m goin’ to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Reading
“Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Written by Herself”
Harriet A. Jacobs (Harriet Ann), 1813-1897 and Lydia Maria Francis Child, 1802-1880
For the last time I went up to my nook. Its desolate appearance no longer chilled me, for the light of hope had risen in my soul. Yet, even with the blessed prospect of freedom before me, I felt very sad at leaving forever that old homestead, where I had been sheltered so long by the dear old grandmother; where I had dreamed my first young dream of love; and where, after that had faded away, my children came to twine themselves so closely round my desolate heart.
When I entered the vessel the captain came forward to meet me. He was an elderly man, with a pleasant countenance. He showed me to a little box of a cabin, where sat my friend Fanny. Fanny and I now talked by ourselves, low and quietly, in our little cabin. She told me of the sufferings she had gone through in making her escape, and of her terrors while she was concealed in her mother's house. Above all, she dwelt on the agony of separation from all her children on that dreadful auction day. She could scarcely credit me, when I told her of the place where I had passed nearly seven years. "We have the same sorrows," said I. "No," replied she, "you are going to see your children soon, and there is no hope that I shall ever even hear from mine."
Musical Selections:
Sympathy (Florence Price, Paul Laurence Dunbar)
Lauren Cook
I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass
And the river flows like a stream of glass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes
And the faint perfume from the chalice steals
I know what the caged bird feels.
I know why the caged bird beats his wing
Till the blood is red on the cruel bars
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he fain would be on the bough a-swing;
And the pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting
I know why he beats his wing,
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and he would be free.
It is not a carol of joy or glee
But a pray’r that he sends from his heart’s deep core
But a plea that upwards to Heaven he flings.
I know why the caged bird sings!
The Heart of a Woman (H. Leslie Adams, Georgia Douglas Johnson)
Whitney Robinson
The heart of a woman goes forth with the dawn
As a lone bird, soft winging so restlessly on,
Afar o’er life’s turrets and vales does it roam
In the wake of those echoes the heart calls home.
The heart of a woman falls back with the night
And enters some alien cage in its plight,
And tries to forget it has dreamed of the stars
While it breaks, breaks, breaks on the sheltering bars.
Flying (H. Leslie Adams, Joette McDonald)
Lisa Buhelos
Angel wing or eagle wing
any-pinioned pulsating thing lifts the spirit free,
lifts the spirit free, lifts the spirit free!
Fly in foam where ether is
float among despair,
surge ahead or soar above, find your freedom there.
Earthbound, clumsy, stumbling, heavy, plodding, dull
Dream of wings and liberty
Feel the upward pull, feel the upward pull, feel the upward pull!
Reading
“Fling out the Anti-Slavery Flag” from Narrative of William W. Brown, An American slave. Written by himself. (1847)
BY W. W. BROWN (1814–1884)
FLING out the Anti-Slavery flag
On every swelling breeze;
And let its folds wave o'er the land,
And o'er the raging seas,
Till all beneath the standard sheet
With new allegiance bow,
And pledge themselves to onward bear
The emblem of their vow.
Fling out the Anti-Slavery flag,
And let it onward wave
Till it shall float o'er every clime,
And liberate the slave;
Till, like a meteor flashing far,
It bursts with glorious light,
And with its heaven-born rays dispels
The gloom of sorrow's night.
Fling out the Anti-Slavery flag,
And let it not be furled,
Till, like a planet of the skies,
It sweeps around the world.
And when each poor degraded slave
Is gathered near and far,
O, fix it on the azure arch,
As hope's eternal star.
Fling out the Anti-Slavery flag;
Forever let it be
The emblem to a holy cause,
The banner of the free.
And never from its guardian height
Let it by man be driven,
But let it float forever there,
Beneath the smiles of heaven.
Musical Selections:
Songs for the People (Rosephanye Powell, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper)
Marcus Lee
Let me make the songs for the people,
Songs for the old and young;
Songs to stir like a battle cry wherever they are sung.
Let me make the songs for the weary, amid life’s fever and fret,
till hearts shall relax their tension, and careworn brows forget.
Not for the clashing of sabres, for carnage nor for strife;
But songs to thrill the hearts of men with more abundant life.
Let me sing for little children before their footsteps stray,
Sweet anthems of love and duty to float o’er life’s highway.
Our world, so worn and weary, needs music, pure and strong,
to hush the jangle and discords of sorrow, pain, and wrong.
Music to soothe all its sorrow till war and crime shall cease;
and the hearts of men grown tender girdle the world with peace.
Let me make the songs for the people,
Songs for the old and young;
Songs to stir like a battle cry wherever they are sung.
Let me make the songs for the weary, amid life’s fever and fret,
till hearts shall relax their tension, and careworn brows forget.
Hold Fast to Dreams (Florence Price, Langston Hughes)
Naomi Brigell
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
For if dreams die
For if dreams die
Life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go,
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field,
Life is a barren field,
Frozen, frozen with snow.
We Have Tomorrow (Florence Price, Langston Hughes)
Jeremiah Tyson
We have tomorrow,
We have tomorrow,
Bright before us,
Like a flame
Yesterday a night-gone thing,
A sundown name.
And dawn today, dawn today,
Broad arch above the road we came.
Theology (Betty Jackson King, Paul Laurence Dunbar)
Steven Ricks
There is a heaven forever day by day.
The upward longing of my soul doth tell me so.
There is a hell,
There is a hell, I’m quite sure,
for pray, if there were not
where would my neighbors go?
Reading
Excerpt from the Semi-Weekly Floridian, May 21, 1867
“Yesterday was a great day with the Freedmen. It was the anniversary of Gen. McCook’s General Order announcing their freedom, based on Mr. Lincoln’s proclamation of 1863. At an early hour, they commenced coming into town and by 9 o’clock the streets were pretty well crowded…the procession marched up Main street, with the U.S. flag flying at intervals along their ranks. During their march, and all along the road out to the speaking ground, the air was frequently rent with cheers raised through the whole line….In spite of the efforts of the head men to keep them out of the lines, the women would fall in at different places, not being willing that the men should have all the “fun.” The procession arrived at the ground near Bull’s Pond, about a mile from the town, at 11 o’clock, where some time was consumed in arranging everything preparatory to the commencement of the speaking.”
Musical Selections:
Amazing Grace (music and text, H. Leslie Adams)
Jouelle Roberson
Amazing Grace, you fill my heart with song
A song of love that lasts the whole day long!
Amazing Grace, surround me with the strength of your caress,
Renew my trust that I’m forever blest!
Amazing Truth, speak to me with your voice,
uniting all within that says “Rejoice!”
Amazing Truth, unfold the joy that only you can bring,
The joy that comes when I begin to sing!
Abiding hope, abiding faith, abiding strength that comes to me.
Abiding life, abiding love,
Abiding song of eternity!
Amazing Grace, surround me with the strength of your caress,
Renew my trust that I’m forever blest!
Amazing Truth, speak to me with your voice,
uniting all within that says “Rejoice!”
Amazing Truth, unfold that joy that only you can bring,
The joy that comes when I begin to sing!
Amazing Grace, you fill my heart with song.
A song of love that lasts the whole day long!
A song of peace that frees my heart and lifts me high above,
Amazing Grace, you fill me with your love!
I Dream a World (Uzee Brown, Jr., Langston Hughes)
Brian Yeakley
I dream a world where man no other will scorn,
where love will bless the earth
and peace its path adorn.
I dream a world where all will know sweet freedom’s way,
where greed no longer saps the soul,
nor avarice blights our day;
a world I dream where black or white,
whatever race you be, will share the bounties of the earth,
and every man is free! free, free,
where wretchedness will hang its head,
and joy like a pearl, attend the needs of all mankind.
Of such I dream, of such I dream, our world!
I Have a Dream (Lee Hoiby, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
Titus Muzi, De’Ron McDaniel, Joel Balzun
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia,
sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners
will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi,
a state swelt’ring with the heat of oppression,
will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream…. that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream.
Today I have a dream that one day, right down in Alabama,
little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today that ev’ry valley shall be exalted
and ev’ry mountain and hill shall be made low.
The rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight,
and the will of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is our faith.
And with this faith we will transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith we will be able to work together,
pray together, struggle together, go to jail together, stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day,
the day that all God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:
“My country tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim’s pride.
From ev’ry mountainside
Let freedom ring.”
Let freedom ring!
From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire let freedom ring.
From the mighty mountains of New York let freedom ring.
From the high Alleghenies of Pennsylvania let freedom ring.
From the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado let freedom ring.
From the curvaceous slopes of California let freedom ring.
Not only that!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from ev’ry hill and molehill of Mississippi,
From ev’ry mountainside let freedom ring!
When we let freedom ring,
when we let it ring from ev’ry village and ev’ry hamlet,
from ev’ry state and ev’ry city,
we will speed up that day when black men and white men,
Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics will be able to join hands and sing
“Free at last, Free at last, thank God almight we’re free at last!”
Pianists: Laura Bleakley, Djordje Nesic, Laurie Rogers
Juneteenth, which is celebrated on June 19th annually, commemorates the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people were freed. The arrival of troops came two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House two months earlier in Virginia, but slavery had remained relatively unaffected in Texas—until U.S. General Gordon Granger stood on Texas soil and read General Orders No. 3: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” Juneteenth honors that day - the end of slavery in the United States.
To celebrate this important holiday, Opera Saratoga will return to Caffè Lena on June 19th for A Juneteenth Celebration as part of AMERICA SINGS, the company’s free concert series that was created to amplify the voices of artists from racial groups historically underrepresented on the concert stage. The program was curated by bass-baritone Carl DuPont, a distinguished alumnus of Opera Saratoga’s Young Artist Program who is now on faculty at Peabody Conservatory where he teaches voice and a survey course on Art Song by African American Composers.
“In America we have de jure and de facto legal and government systems,” explains Dupont. “Juneteenth is the crystallization of that for me. Although The Emancipation Proclamation was issued two years prior to Juneteenth (de jure) the actual emancipation of those citizens in Texas (de facto) didn't happen until two years later. This holiday is a reminder of how stubborn structural racism can be, and how indomitable the persistence of the human spirit remains.”
In putting together the concert program, DuPont has included prose and poetry – along with an extraordinary selection of music by African American composers- to create a more comprehensive texture of why we celebrate Juneteenth. Musical selections include songs by H. Leslie Adams, Tim Amukele, Margaret Bonds, Uzee Brown, Moses Hogan, Betty Jackson King, Rosephanye Powell, Florence Price, and Hale Smith. Spoken word selections include excerpts from The Declaration of Independence, The Emancipation Proclamation, and The General Orders which actually notified the enslaved people that they were free. The program will also include first-hand diary accounts and poetry from formerly enslaved people, as well as newspaper copy of the observation of the first Juneteenth celebrations.
The program will be performed by Festival Artists from Opera Saratoga’s Young Artist Program, who include notable emerging Black singers alongside artists who come from a wide range of other racial backgrounds, many of whom are learning more about Juneteenth through the experience of putting together this program. “I am glad that the performers at this concert represent a wide variety of racial backgrounds,” added DuPont “some of whom might be performing art songs by Black composers for the first time. Many of the members of the concert-going public will also be hearing these wonderful songs for the first time. That will be a special moment, and I hope the singers feel inspired to continue to advocate for Black composers as well as other marginalized composers, themes, or causes in their careers. And, I hope the audience gains a window into the faith, hope, joy, dreams, suffering, consolation, and frustration of the Black American experience and of our shared history as a nation.”
AMERICA SINGS: A JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION is presented in partnership with Caffè Lena. The free concert will take place at 2pm ET, Saturday, June 19th, 2021. To access the concert, please visit Caffè Lena’s YouTube page, or Opera Saratoga’s Facebook page.
