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A MEMORABLE OCCASION CELEBRATING SLAVERY'S END FOR AFRICAN-AMERICANS JUNETEENTH, according to the website Juneteenth.com, "is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States" that dates back to June 19, 1865 when U.S. General Gordon Granger read a proclamation to African-Americans in Galveston, Texas officially informing them that "all slaves are free," resulting in "an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves" with the added edict that "the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer." That reading in Texas took place two months after the Confederate surrender at Appomattox, Virginia that brought an end to the Civil War --- an indicator of how slowly such news traveled in the mid-19th Century. Last Thursday, with President Biden's signing of an act of Congress, Juneteenth became an official federal holiday from this point forward. Two days later --- last Saturday --- Smithfield hosted a well-attended celebration organized by Town Councilman Marlon Lee and others at Smith-Collins Park in the heart of an historically African-American neighborhood. It
started with a parade on Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive....
 The Drummers World Drumline from Goldsboro also entertained celebrants beneath the park's shade trees later on.  Joining the
march were Kay Carroll (left) of the Johnston County
Board of Education alongside County Manager Rick Hester.  Here are local members of Omega Psi Phi, the first international fraternal organization founded on the campus of an historically black college --- in 1911 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Festivities continued all afternoon
in the park...
 Vendors set up beneath the shade trees to showcase their wares.  Children enjoyed an inflatable playground (above), then found refreshments nearby (below). It was hot under the midday summer sun.   The leader of the Drummers World ensemble recruited several volunteers to follow his instructions as a newly formed "Johnston County Drumline."  An all-day
cookout capped off a full day of festivities.
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