The day before U.S. President Joe Biden signed legislation to make Juneteenth a new national holiday, the Siena community hosted the second part of its own inaugural Juneteenth observation.
The College’s first observation on May 5 was a more solemn affair; the June 16 gathering at the SSU Paddock in bright sunshine, at close quarters and without masks, was a celebration.
George Christian, presidential actions officer, said Juneteenth helps Siena keep its commitment to strengthening the bonds of racial justice.
“It brings the Siena community together to embrace real conversation and will impact diversity and inclusion,” he said.
Fr. Roberto Serrano remarked on how crucial it is for America to admit mistakes and wrongdoing in its history – and in its present.
“As a nation, we cannot heal wounds by ignoring them. We can only heal them by addressing them.”
Britt McFadden ’22 (pronouns they/their) used the storytelling skills learned in Siena’s Creative Arts project 2020 Tales to craft an original piece about the meaning of Juneteenth.
They explained that true storytelling has a beginning, a middle and an end, which sounds simplistic, but is essential for a story to move. McFadden started with the history of Juneteenth, then transitioned to how the Black community overcame and survived and is now reaching out to educate others, and concluded with what Juneteenth means to them and other Black Americans.
“I initially spent a full day on and off coming up with thoughts to put in the story, then figured out where each part fit in the narrative,” they said.
In their work they called on the Siena community to “celebrate with us the emancipation of our people, be filled with joy at the fact that we are all created equal.” Juneteenth means “that we must continue to stand for what is right, continue to lift one another up in a world that may want to see us fail. As we continue to make changes, we will not fail.”
Jamar Byron ’24, read General Order No. 3, which officially freed slaves in Texas on June 19, 1865.
“I believe that Juneteenth is more than just a holiday to celebrate the freedom of African Americans,” said Byron. “It has way more meaning than just that. Speaking for myself and many other young African American teens, Juneteenth is to remember what many of our ancestors were put through and to never let that rise up again. We should always keep marching forward with our heads held high and our hearts always on the right path.”
Nadiyah Roberts-Green, VISTA leader/diversity and partnership coordinator on Siena’s ACE team, read her poetry, inspired by the beats and wordplay of music she enjoys.
Roberts-Green said she has been writing since she was little “as an escape,” and has recently started sharing her work publicly “to self-actualize and to help heal people.”
Some lines from her poem “Tomorrow is always waiting for tomorrow”:
You see the fallacy in the duality of my oppress- shuns away our ancestral progress day by day, When will we learn to put the guns away?...
"It has never been about what is black versus blue, but instead about the lack of reciprocity in what we put in our news, if there is an injustice for one then we ALL LOSE."…
"Our story I’m hopeful will bring us peace soon, so long as we begin to make revisions to neglected decisions of the imprisonments of our past, and together we can write an equitable Chapter that’ll last."
Roberts-Green explained her writing process by saying she likes to sit with an idea for a while before she starts to compose. She wanted her Juneteenth poetry to be a learning opportunity for the Siena audience.
“Though I feel that getting out anger is warranted, I wanted to do something educational that could help build community,” she said. “These small, day-by-day wins are important for all of us.”