Oak Bluffs Town Column: June 23
James Weldon Johnson
The rain, wind, and waves that threatened to cancel the broad array of Juneteenth weekend programs conjured up the innovation, determination, ingenuity, and sacrifices that our ancestors deployed against almost intolerable living conditions in slavery and that still prevailed in Texas until Major General Gordon Granger freed them on June 18, 1865. The strength that they embodied emboldened all participants to carry on despite the weather.
The last hymn was Lift Every Voice and Sing, adapted from a poem written by James Weldon Johnson and set to music by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson. This brilliant writer, poet, playwright, lawyer, and civil rights leader was born on Juneteenth weekend, June 17, 1871. This coincidence of dates led to a major celebration of Mr. Johnson’s life this past weekend in Great Barrington. Events during that Juneteenth celebration included tours of his writer’s cottage and the estate of his wife, Grace Nail, as well as a gala dinner including an auction.