JUNETEENTH IS AN ILLINOIS STATE HOLIDAY
3rd SATURDAY IN JUNE
WHAT YOU MISSED IF YOU DIDN'T CELEBRATE WITH US IN 2005
CALL
773-684-6070 FOR INFORMATION ON THE CURRENT PLANS
June 16, 2005 6:00 PM
Juneteenth Freedom Gala
South Shore Cultural Center
71st and South Shore
6PM- 10 PM
Silent Auction
Awards Dinner
Exhibits
God's Gang is creating and performing a series of provoking exhibits. God’s Gang members will offer their interpretation of our surviving the transformation from African Warrior to American Slave.
Living Statues:
Unbroken Warrior
Afrikana Woman
Family Gone
Miss Sue Primping
Remembered Crafts
Service With A Smile
Approach the Chicago Cultural Center as the sun sets, and two young boys open the door to the Old World. The inner corridor has a 5 year old fiddler. Ascend the stairs and there are three of the six Living Statues on elevated platforms. Miz Sue is Primpin’ and Getting Ready for the Ball, There’s the Family Broken By Slavery and Then there’s the Young Ladies with their Remembered Crafts: Shakeray Making, Needlepoint and Crocheting. To your right are the ball dancers doing the Waltz and the Reel with another fiddler. Along the sides are the maidens with their dance cards and chaperons, waiting to be asked to dance. Turn left and there is the master receiving Service with A Smile and the enslaved Afrikana Woman gathering her Strength from Mother Earth. And where is her mate? He’s just inside the door after you pick up your ticket. Stripped, Shackled and Bound, but still the proud Warrior Unbroken.
Middle Passage
Enter the cargo hold in Africa, Exit into the New World.
Influenced by Milwaukee’s Black Holocaust Museum.
But lets go back to the beginning. Down to the dock of the ship that’s heading to Africa for more human cargo. What are they taking to trade? Let’s check the barrels and boxes lining the dock. Dishes and cheap beads. Enter the bowels of the ship and hear the waves, see and hear the bodies lining the wall. Pass through and on the opposite dock are the other treasures being taken from Africa, fabric, carvings and wooden beads, teas and spices.
Run to your table, to the light, but remember you can run but you can’t hide from the truth and ancestral memories of warriors, kings and queens, enslaved and brought against your will in servitude. Remember, we built the pyramids and conquered the Nile, remember, we built this country too.
June 18th 79th and Stony Island to Rainbow Beach Park Parade
10 AM to Noon
June 18th Rainbow Beach Park
Noon-Dusk
1st Annual Marching Band Competition
Greek Step Competition
Live Entertainment
Outdoor exhibit
The Bottoms
Outdoor exhibit showing the lifestyle of the 19th century slave. Included will be an open sided cabin, surrounded by a small gathering area, cotton, farm/garden areas, cemetery,
a nod to the Big House, and small live animals.
Are we there yet? Just over the rise. Over the fence.
Going Back, over 100 years to the Bottoms, the low end of the plantation. There’s the cabin that sleeps 8-10 slaves. See the mats stacked up in the corner? Look at the pots and pans, the knicknacks, castoffs from the big house. Behind the cabin is the mounds of graves with the rough hewn markers. Over to the side is the well where the boys are drawing water for the entire plantation. The blacksmith is hard at work on his anvil, the tiny children working at their chores with little time to play. See the hand made wooden toys carved in the fading moonlight? Check the young cotton plants too soon to really identify. There’s a young girl tending to the chickens and geese. See the old slaves sitting on the porch in the rocker that they salvaged ands listen to the speakers and the preachers over in the Gathering Place. Off in the distance, through the pillars is the big house. They have real beds, not mats, see it? Desks, chairs, candles made by those children in the bottoms, and a little corn likker to ease the pain.
June 19th
Swift Mansion
4500 South Michigan Ave
1PM - 7PM.
A Tribute to the Black Father. A free event and all are welcome. Traditional Juneteenth dishes will be served. The event is to be held at the historical Swift Mansion located in Bronzeville at 4500 South Michigan Ave. in Chicago. Sunday, June 19, 2005 from 1PM - 7PM. Showtime 3PM - Music and Poetry. Special Invited Guest Sam Greenlee author of "The Spook who sat By the Door" will give expressions from his literary works and open a dialogue on "The dichotomy of the Black Vernacular, Black Entertainment and Political Activism
For More Information
CIESS Gala, Parade and Competitions 773-684-6070
CIESS.Lecktronix.net
God’s Gang Exhibits
773-264-2652
GodsGang2005.Lecktronix.net
Race To Knowledge
Swift Mansion Events
773-285-2852
UndergroundRailroad.Lecktronix. net
