Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom

(UPBEAT MUSIC) AIN'T GOT TIME TO DIE LORD AIN'T GOT TIME TO DIE LORD HELLO AMERICA PLEASE STOP WITH THE EULOGIES I WROTE MY OWN NARRATIVE YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH ME I WAS ONCE BROKEN NOW I'M A WORKING COLLAGE I'M THE THIEF ON THE CROSS I'M STILL HANGING WITH GOD MY SAVIOR WALKED ON WATER MY ANCESTORS CAN FLY MY SKIN IT DOESN'T CRACK MY ART TRAVELS THROUGH TIME JESUS SLEPT IN A GRAVE BUT HE ROSE FEELING FINE 'CAUSE AIN'T GOT TIME TO DIE THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING AIN'T GOT TIME AIN'T GOT TIME TO DIE AIN'T GOT TIME JUST AIN'T GOT TIME TO DIE (WATER LAPPING) (PEOPLE HUMMING) THE DIASPORA SPEAKS THROUGH MY SKIN.

THE REVERBERATING OF SALTY TIDES, RUSTED CHAIN BOAT RIDES, AND ARRIVING TO THE SHORES OF GALVESTON PORTS.

THE COMMODITY OF HUMAN CARGO STIMULATED ECONOMIC GROWTH YET IT DASHED THE HOPES OF BLACK PEOPLE TO A BLOODY PULP.

AMERICAN APARTHEID BEGINS.

THE ROPE BECOMES A NOOSE ON THE NECK.

CALLOUSED, THORN AND THISTLE-PRICKED HANDS TOILING IN BLOODSTAINED COTTON FIELDS.

A DEVASTATING DISPLACEMENT AND SEPARATION OF FATHERS AND MOTHERS FROM CHILDREN AND EACH OTHER BECAME SO BURDENSOME THAT THE VOICES OF THE ENSLAVED RAISED IN UNISON TOWARDS THE HEAVENS FOR FREEDOM.

THEN CAME FOUR YEARS OF CIVIL WAR.

SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSAND U.S. CITIZENS SLAUGHTERED, FOUR MILLION PEOPLE EMANCIPATED.

BUT THE REAL QUESTION WAS: WHO WOULD TELL US THAT WE HAD BEEN SET FREE?

WADE IN THE WATER RASOOL BERRY: THE IDEA OF FREEDOM IS THE CENTER OF THE AMERICAN ETHOS.

IT'S OUR HIGHEST ASPIRATION.

AND YET ITS OPPOSITE, SLAVERY, IS CENTRAL TO OUR ORIGIN STORY, AMERICA'S ORIGINAL SIN.

I'VE COME TO TEXAS TO LEARN THE TRUE STORY BEHIND JUNETEENTH, AMERICA'S NEWEST NATIONAL HOLIDAY, AND THE FIRST IN WHICH WE TOGETHER CELEBRATE THE END OF SLAVERY.

I'M HERE FOR MYSELF, A DESCENDANT OF SLAVES, FOR MY COUNTRY, BUILT WITH THEIR HANDS AND FOR MY CHRISTIAN FAITH, WHICH WAS USED TO JUSTIFY SLAVERY AND YET BECAME AN INSPIRATION FOR LIBERATION.

ON THE STREETS OF GALVESTON WHERE THE JUNETEENTH STORY BEGINS, I AM GREETED BY A HISTORICAL MARKER.

ON JUNE 19TH, 1865, TWO AND A HALF YEARS AFTER THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, GENERAL GORDON GRANGER ARRIVED BY BOAT WITH "GENERAL ORDER III" IN HAND, WHICH STATED, "ALL SLAVES ARE FREE.

"THIS INVOLVES AN ABSOLUTE EQUALITY OF PERSONAL RIGHTS "AND THE RIGHTS OF PROPERTY "BETWEEN FORMER MASTERS AND SLAVES."

TO UNDERSTAND THIS NEW FREEDOM, I FIRST NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WERE FREED FROM.

MICHAEL WATERS: IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT SLAVERY, THAT WE HUMANIZE IT, RIGHT?

YOU CAN MISS THE HUMANITY WHEN YOU EMPHASIZE TEN MILLION SLAVES, RIGHT?

WE WANNA TALK ABOUT SOMEONE'S SON, SOMEONE'S DAUGHTER WHO MADE THE ARDUOUS FORCED PASSAGE FROM THEIR HOMELAND TO THIS COUNTRY.

RASOOL: THE VOICES OF THE PAST ECHO INTO THE PRESENT HERE.

PASTOR MICHAEL WATERS, A NATIVE TEXAN WHO HAS IMMERSED HIMSELF IN THIS HISTORY WILL TRANSLATE THEM FOR ME.

MICHAEL: SO WE CAN BEGIN WITH THIS.

THIS IS A MANILA BRACELET.

THIS BRACELET WAS THE FORM OF CURRENCY FROM WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WHEN THEY WENT TO WEST AFRICA IN ORDER TO PURCHASE OUR ANCESTORS AS SLAVES.

SIX TO EIGHT OF THESE WOULD ALLOW YOU TO BUY A HUMAN BEING.

AFTER YOU HAD BEEN PURCHASED, OF COURSE, YOU WERE PUT IN CHAINS.

THESE ARE AUTHENTIC CHAINS FROM GHANA.

JUST IMAGINE, FEEL THE WEIGHT OF THESE, OF HAVING THESE PLACED UPON YOU.

RASOOL: AND THESE WOULD BE PLACED ON WRIST OR FEET?

MICHAEL: THESE WOULD BE PLACED ON FEET.

OKAY, THESE ARE SHACKLES.

AND YOU'D BE ON THE SHIP FOR MONTHS BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY SET OFF FOR PASSAGE.

ONCE YOU CAME, UNFORTUNATELY, TO THESE SHORES, YOU EXCHANGED CHAINS.

ONE CHAIN FOR ANOTHER.

THESE WOULD BE THE CHAINS OF THE AUCTION.

THIS ONE RIGHT HERE SAYS, "STRONG, HEALTHY AFRICAN NEGROES LOT NUMBER 32."

W.W WILBUR, WHO WAS A SLAVE SELLER FROM 1806.

AND SO YOU HAVE MARKETING AND YOU HAVE BRANDING IN THE SELLING OF HUMANITY.

RASOOL: SO THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT.

MICHAEL: THIS IS AN ADVERTISEMENT, ABSOLUTELY.

WELL I'M WORKING MY WAY RASOOL: HOLDING THOSE CHAINS WAS HEAVY, BUT PASTOR WATERS REMINDS ME THAT TO TRULY APPRECIATE LIBERATION, I HAVE TO GRASP THE REALITY OF BONDAGE.

SAM COLLINS, A LOCAL HISTORIAN, TAKES ME SOMEWHERE I'VE ALWAYS DREADED, THE FINAL DESTINATION FOR THE ENSLAVED.

SAM: WE ARE AT THE VARNER-HOGG PLANTATION IN WEST COLUMBIA, TEXAS.

IN 1834, COLUMBUS PATTON TURNED IT INTO A PRODUCING AGRICULTURAL LOCATION WITH 40 TO 60 ENSLAVED PEOPLE.

RASOOL: FOR THE SLAVE OWNER, WHAT WAS LIFE LIKE HERE?

SAM: WELL, PATTON WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL WITH REGARDS TO RUNNING THE PLANTATION.

THEY PRODUCED A LOT OF SUGAR, AND THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE WERE THE ONES PRODUCING THE WEALTH.

THEY WERE NOT RECEIVING THE BENEFIT, BUT THEY WERE DOING THE WORK AND PRODUCING THE WEALTH OF THIS COUNTY.

AND FOR THE ENSLAVER, THEIR WEALTH WAS IN OWNERSHIP OF THE PEOPLE AND IN WHAT THE PEOPLE PRODUCED.

SO IT IS GRAND, BUT IT'S NOT GREAT.

(SOMBER MUSIC) RASOOL: ATTEMPTS TO DEFEND SLAVERY EXTENDED FAR BEYOND THE PLANTATION AND FOUND JUSTIFICATION IN A MOST UNEXPECTED PLACE, THE CHURCH.

BUT HOW COULD THE CHURCH, WHICH I BELIEVE IS A PLACE TO FIND SPIRITUAL FREEDOM, BECOME A PLACE THAT DEFENDED BONDAGE?

LISA FIELDS: THE FIRST WAY TO BE OKAY WITH TREATING SOMEONE BAD IS TO DEHUMANIZE THEM, AND THEN YOU WON'T FEEL GUILTY FOR IT.

RASOOL: I REACHED OUT TO AN EXPERT, LISA FIELDS, TO MAKE SENSE OF IT ALL, AND A GOOD PLACE TO START WAS THE GOOD BOOK ITSELF.

LISA: ANTI-LITERACY LAWS ARE CREATED REALLY TO KEEP SLAVES FROM READING THE BIBLE FROM COVER TO COVER BECAUSE THEY'RE LIKE, "WE GOTTA STOP THEM FROM READING THE TRUE LIBERATION "OF JESUS CHRIST THROUGH SCRIPTURE "BECAUSE IF THEY SEE THAT, THEY'RE GONNA WANT TO BE FREE "BECAUSE THEY REALIZE THAT WE'RE ALL EQUAL "AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS."

THINK ABOUT THINGS LIKE THE SLAVE BIBLE.

THAT SUPPORTS THE CLAIM THAT CHRISTIANITY IS A WHITE MAN'S RELIGION.

RASOOL: WHAT'S THE SLAVE BIBLE?

LISA: THE SLAVE BIBLE IS A BIBLE CREATED BY WHITE SUPREMACISTS THAT TOOK OUT ALL THE LIBERATION PASSAGES AND PASSAGES THAT POINT TO LIBERATION AND FREEDOM AND GAVE IT TO THE SLAVES AS A MEANS TO SAY, "HEY, THIS IS WHAT SCRIPTURE SAYS", TO FURTHER CAUSE THEM TO BE OPPRESSED.

RASOOL: SO YOU'RE SAYING THEY TOOK A BIBLE AND THEN CUT SOME STUFF OUT?

LIKE, WAS THAT JUST A FEW VERSES HERE OR THERE?

LISA: NO, IT WAS A LOT OF THE SCRIPTURE.

THE EXODUS ACCOUNT WAS REMOVED BECAUSE YOU GOTTA THINK ABOUT WHEN NAT TURNER READ SCRIPTURE, IT CAUSED A REVOLT.

THEY DIDN'T WANT THEM TO KNOW THAT THEY WERE ALSO CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD BECAUSE IF THEY WERE ALSO CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, THEN THEY COULDN'T TREAT THEM THE WAY THEY TREATED THEM.

RASOOL: THE LIES AND DISTORTIONS OF SLAVERY STRETCH BROAD AND FAR LIKE OLD TWISTED BRANCHES INFECTING THE MIND, BODY, AND SOUL OF THE ENSLAVED AND THE ENSLAVER.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BE ON A SUGAR PLANTATION?

LIKE, WHAT WAS THE WORK LIKE?

SAM: IT WAS TIRING, IT WAS DANGEROUS.

YOU HAD TO DEAL WITH SNAKES AND MOSQUITOES, AND THEY WOULD'VE WORKED AROUND THE CLOCK TRYING TO GET ALL OF THE SUGAR CANE CUT AND PROCESSED.

RASOOL: AND WHAT DID IT LOOK LIKE TO PROCESS IT OUT?

AND WHAT DOES THOSE BOWLS HAVE TO DO WITH THAT?

SAM: THEY HEATED IT UP TO GET ALL THE IMPURITIES AND THINGS OUT FROM BOWL TO BOWL.

THEY KEPT GOING TO SMALLER BOWLS AS THEY HEATED... RASOOL: OH, AND IT WOULD JUST KIND OF GET CONCENTRATED.

SO, SUPER HOT.

SO THEY'RE HEATING THOSE BOWLS UP IN...

ALREADY IN THE HOT SUN, AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT, FIRE UNDERNEATH TO DISTILL IT.

SAM: YEAH.

RASOOL: MAN, THAT'S... THAT'S INTENSE.

SAM: I'M SURE PEOPLE DIED OF HEAT STROKES.

SOMETIME PEOPLE GOT CRUSHED IN THESE MILLS IF THEY ACCIDENTALLY GOT A SHIRT OR SOMETHING CAUGHT AND GOT PULLED THROUGH.

SO THERE WAS A PERSON THAT HAD A RESPONSIBILITY TO STAND IF SOMEBODY GOT CAUGHT, THEIR HAND, TO CUT IT OFF TO SAVE THEIR LIFE BECAUSE IF THAT PERSON WAS NOT THERE, THEY WOULD JUST BE PULLED THROUGH AND LOST.

RASOOL: OH, THAT'S... THAT'S HORRIFIC.

SAM: UNFORTUNATELY, THERE WAS DEATH IN THESE SPACES.

AND PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THE COST TO PRODUCE THIS WEALTH THAT THESE ENSLAVERS AND PLANTATION OWNERS ENJOYED.

(SOMBER MUSIC) RASOOL: WHAT'S THE STORY THAT PEOPLE ARE TELLING THEMSELVES TO MAKE THIS ALL OKAY?

'CAUSE IT FEELS SO HORRIFIC AND SEEMS SO OBVIOUSLY WRONG.

MICHAEL: WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS THEY'RE SAYING IS THAT ENSLAVED PERSONS AND THEIR ENSLAVERS WERE LIKE FAMILY, THAT THEY SHARED MEALS TOGETHER, THAT THEY WORSHIPED TOGETHER, THAT IT REALLY WASN'T AS BAD AS IT MIGHT APPEAR.

HERE'S THE UNFORTUNATE REALITY.

23ANDME RECENTLY DID A STUDY THAT SHOWED EVEN IN GENETIC MAKEUP OF AMERICANS, YOU CAN SEE THE LEGACY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.

RASOOL: HOW SO?

MICHAEL: THAT SO MANY ENSLAVERS RAPED THEIR SLAVES, THAT IT IS A PART OF THE GENETIC MAKEUP OF AMERICA, THAT THERE WERE MORE BLACK MEN BROUGHT TO AMERICA THAN BLACK WOMEN BECAUSE IT WAS PERCEIVED THAT THE BLACK MEN WOULD BE ABLE TO WORK HARD IN THE FIELDS.

AND YET WHEN YOU SEE THE DNA RECORD, ONE OF THE HIGHEST CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARD PRODUCING THE NEXT GENERATION WOULD BE BETWEEN WHITE EUROPEAN MEN AND BLACK WOMEN.

IT'S IN OUR DNA.

THAT'S HOW DEEP THESE STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS HAVE HARMED US, THAT WE SEE IT IN THE DNA OF NOT JUST OUR ANCESTORS, BUT OF PEOPLE TODAY.

(TENSE MUSIC) SAM: SO WE ARE NOW HERE AT THE RUINS OF THE SLAVE CABINS, WHERE THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE WOULD'VE COME TO TRY AND GET SOME REST AFTER A LONG DAY OF HARD LABOR.

THERE WOULD'VE BEEN TWO CABINS BACK TO BACK.

FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS WOULD'VE BEEN PLACED... RASOOL: OH, SO THIS ISN'T LIKE ONE HOUSE?

THIS IS TWO.

SAM: YES.

RASOOL: WOW.

SAM: AND AFTER BEING WORKED THE WAY THEY WERE WORKED, THERE REALLY WASN'T MUCH TO DO BUT COME AND LAY DOWN AND HOPE TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER.

AND SOMETIME TOMORROW GOT BETTER AND SOMETIME TOMORROW GOT WORSE.

RASOOL: MAN, HOW DO YOU KEEP HOPE, EVEN IN THE MIDST OF STUDYING THESE DARK THINGS?

SAM: WELL, FOR ME, THIS WORLD IS NOT ETERNAL.

SO THIS IS TEMPORARY.

WE'RE JOURNEYING THROUGH THIS.

SO I HOLD ON TO THE FACT THAT THE INDIVIDUALS SURVIVED, THAT EVEN IN THAT OPPRESSIVE ENVIRONMENT, THEY STAYED ALIVE AND TRIED TO MAKE IT TO THAT NEXT DAY.

AND ULTIMATELY, THEY KNEW THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE HERE FOREVER, THAT ONE DAY THEY, TOO, WOULD TRANSITION TO TRUE FREEDOM.

AND THAT IS MY HOPE.

DON'T WANNA TRANSITION TODAY.

RASOOL: NO, NOT TODAY.

SAM: BUT WHEN I DO, I'LL BE AT PEACE BECAUSE I'LL TRULY BE FREE.

RASOOL: SAM'S ANCESTORS WERE SUSTAINED BY A FAITH THAT SEEMS TO KEEP HIM GOING, TOO.

BACK IN GALVESTON, ASHTON VILLA STANDS IN STARK CONTRAST TO THE REMAINS OF THE SLAVE QUARTERS OF VARNER-HOGG PLANTATION.

THIS PRISTINELY PRESERVED PALACE WAS BUILT WITH THE HANDS OF SLAVES AND REMAINS A MEMORIAL OF PRESTIGE AND POWER.

HERE, I FIND COMPETING NARRATIVES ABOUT GALVESTON AND JUNETEENTH.

AT ONE POINT, IT WAS DECLARED THE PLACE WHERE GENERAL GORDON GRANGER TRIUMPHANTLY READ HIS ORDER ANNOUNCING FREEDOM, BUT THAT ACCOUNT HAS BEEN DEBUNKED AS A MYTH CREATED TO OFFER A MORE HEROIC STORY TO THIS ICONIC STRUCTURE.

AS I SIT WITH THE COMPLEXITIES OF GALVESTON, I REFLECT ON WHY WE OFTEN FIND IT SO TEMPTING TO GLOSS OVER PARTS OF HISTORY TO MAKE IT MORE PALATABLE.

TO BETTER DISCERN FACT FROM FICTION, I MET UP WITH DJ COX, A LOCAL AUTHOR WHO WROTE THE BOOK, "DISPELLING MYTHS ABOUT JUNETEENTH".

DJ: THERE'S THIS PERCEPTION THAT NOBODY KNEW THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION HAD BEEN ISSUED, BUT THEY WERE FULLY AWARE OF IT.

THE ENSLAVED PEOPLE MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN, BUT WHAT THEY KNEW WAS IRRELEVANT BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT EMANCIPATE THEMSELVES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ENSLAVED ALL THAT TIME.

AND SO THE MENTALITY OF THE STATE SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN, IF YOU WANT THEM, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO COME HERE AND GET THEM 'CAUSE WE'RE NOT GONNA LET THEM GO.

RASOOL: LAWRENCE THOMAS'S FAMILY WERE AMONG THOSE FREED IN GALVESTON ON JUNE 19, 1865, AND HIS FATHER HELPED REINSTITUTE JUNETEENTH CELEBRATIONS 40 YEARS AGO.

HOW LONG HAS YOUR FAMILY BEEN IN GALVESTON?

LAWRENCE: SINCE 1852.

MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS A SLAVE TO REBECCA FLUGEL, WHICH WAS MICHEL MENARD'S FOURTH WIFE.

RASOOL: MICHEL MENARD, WHO'S THAT?

LAWRENCE: THAT IS THE FOUNDER OF GALVESTON.

AND HE, AT THAT TIME, HE OWNED MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER.

RIGHT NOW, WE'RE AT THE ACTUAL HOUSE THAT MICHEL MENARD AND MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER LIVED IN.

THE SLAVE QUARTERS WAS IN THE BACK.

RASOOL: SO THIS IS ACTUALLY WHERE THEY... LAWRENCE: THIS IS ACTUALLY WHERE THEY WERE.

YEAH, THIS IS ACTUALLY THE HOUSE.

RASOOL: DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR FAMILY DID FOR THE MENARDS?

LAWRENCE: NO, I THINK IT WAS JUST A TYPICAL SLAVE.

RASOOL: AND WHAT WAS YOUR GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER'S NAME?

LAWRENCE: HIS NAME WAS JOHN THOMAS FLUGEL MENARD.

RASOOL: OKAY, SO HE TOOK THE NAME OF MENARD.

LAWRENCE: YES, PART OF HOW YOU IDENTIFY A SLAVE.

SO ONCE HE GOT HERE, MENARD GOT AT IT.

MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER HAD TWO KIDS.

HE HAD WILLIAM MENARD THOMAS.

HE PUT THE SLAVE NAME BACK IN THERE, SO WE CAN REMEMBER.

RASOOL: WE'RE LITERALLY AT THE HOUSE OF THE FOUNDER OF GALVESTON.

DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR FAMILY HELPED BUILD GALVESTON?

LAWRENCE: OH, MOST DEFINITELY, BUT Y'ALL THANK GOD MY DAD'S NOT HERE 'CAUSE YOU WOULDN'T BE INTERVIEWING ME.

YOU'D BE INTERVIEWING HIM.

YOU'D BE GETTING A EAR FULL OF THAT.

HE'D SAY WE BUILT THIS CITY.

RASOOL: TO HEAR, "WE BUILT THIS CITY," REVEALS A WELL-EARNED PRIDE IN THE MIDST OF ALL THIS PAINFUL HISTORY.

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION IS SIGNED AND GOES INTO EFFECT RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF CIVIL WAR IN 1863?

LAWRENCE: CORRECT, CORRECT.

RASOOL: DOES THAT CHANGE ANYTHING FOR YOUR ANCESTORS HERE IN TEXAS?

LAWRENCE: NO, NO, THEY WERE STILL DOING THE SAME THING.

IT WAS NOTHING CHANGED.

AND OF COURSE, DURING THAT TIME, THERE WASN'T NO WIFI OR ALL THAT STUFF GOING ON, SO THEY DID NOT HAVE A CLUE.

THEY DID NOT HAVE A CLUE.

RASOOL: SO WHEN DOES THAT CHANGE?

LAWRENCE: THAT CHANGES IN 1865 WHEN GORDON GRANGER CAME TO GALVESTON, AND THAT'S WHEN THEY ALL GOT A CHANCE TO GO HEAR THAT LITTLE SPEECH.

RASOOL: I'VE NEVER MET SOMEONE LIKE LAWRENCE.

HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHO ENSLAVED HIS FAMILY AND WHEN THEY WERE FREED, JUNE 19TH, 1865.

AS WE SIT ON THE PORCH HIS ANCESTORS BUILT, I CAN FEEL HIS SENSE OF OWNERSHIP OF THE PLACE AND HOW KNOWING HIS HISTORY HAS EMPOWERED HIM AND HIS FAMILY TO CREATE A HOME HERE TO BOTH MOURN THE PAST AND CELEBRATE FREEDOM.

SEMINARY PROFESSOR AND HISTORIAN, CAREY LATIMORE, SHARES WITH ME THE CONTEXT IN WHICH GENERAL GRANGER ARRIVED IN GALVESTON IN 1865, TWO AND A HALF YEARS AFTER THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

CAREY: THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION IS AN INTERESTING DOCUMENT.

NUMBER ONE, IT'S A PRESIDENTIAL PROCLAMATION, SO ITS LIFESPAN COULD BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT EXCLUDES INITIALLY THE STATES THAT DID NOT SECEDE.

AND SO THOSE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN THOSE STATES WHO WERE ENSLAVED WERE EXCLUDED.

BUT AFTER THAT JANUARY 1ST DATE WHEN IT GOES INTO ORDER WHERE THE UNION ARMY GOES IT'S LIKE A FREEDOM FORCE.

AND WHERE THEY TRAVEL, FREEDOM IS GOING WITH THEM.

DJ: UNFORTUNATELY, THE CURRENTLY ADOPTED TEXAS SCHOOL BOOKS SAY THAT SLAVE OWNERS VOLUNTARILY EMANCIPATED THEIR SLAVES ONCE THEY LEARNED ABOUT THE PROCLAMATION.

WELL, NOW, FIRST OF ALL, THEY ALREADY KNEW ABOUT IT, YOU KNOW?

RASOOL: RIGHT LAWRENCE: AND THEY VOLUNTARILY DID IT 'CAUSE THERE WERE GUNS POINTED AT THEM.

YOU KNOW?

"LET 'EM GO."

THEY SAID, "OKAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST PLAYING."

SHARON GILLINS: THE SOLDIERS DIDN'T COME HERE TO INFORM.

THEY CAME HERE TO ENFORCE.

RASOOL: THAT'S GOOD, THERE YOU GO.

SHARON GILLINS, A GALVESTONIAN GENEALOGIST, BROUGHT ME TO THE EXACT SPOT WHERE THE WORDS OF ABSOLUTE EQUALITY WERE FIRST HEARD.

HER DESCRIPTION OF THE REACTION TO THOSE WORDS HELPED ME VISUALIZE WHAT THAT DAY LOOKED LIKE.

SHARON: YOU CAN JUST IMAGINE, YOU FIND OUT YOU'RE FREE.

THERE'S A PARTY ON EVERY CORNER, OF COURSE.

AS SOON AS THE DOCK WORKERS SAW THAT SHIP PULL IN, THERE WAS DANCING ON THE DOCKS, OF COURSE.

AND THEY WENT OUT, SPREAD OUT AND LET EVERYBODY KNOW THAT THE TROOPS WERE HERE.

RASOOL: THAT MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE A SIGHT, YOU THINK.

DJ: YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE POPULATION OF GALVESTON WAS SUPPOSEDLY AROUND 10,000 PEOPLE, AND YOU'VE GOT 6,000 SOLDIERS THERE, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE ALMOST EVERYBODY HAD THEIR OWN SOLDIERS TO TELL 'EM, "OKAY, LET 'EM GO."

RASOOL: AND THEN 4,000 OF THOSE SOLDIERS WOULD'VE BEEN BLACK.

AND MANY OF THEM, THE AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION IN GALVESTON, THEY HAD NEVER SEEN A BLACK SOLDIER.

NOW YOU SEE THOUSANDS OF 'EM.

CAREY: THINK OF IF YOU WERE ON THE FIELD AND YOU SEE THIS, A FORCE OF BLACK MEN ENTER INTO WHERE YOU ARE.

YOU'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

YOU'VE NEVER SEEN A BLACK PERSON IN ANY SENSE OF AUTHORITY.

BUT NOW, THAT'S INSPIRING, ISN'T IT?

RASOOL: YES.

CAREY: THAT'S TRANSFORMATIVE.

WE THINK THAT BARACK OBAMA BECOMING PRESIDENT, THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANT TO SO MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS.

THEY SAY, TO SEE A BLACK MAN IN THAT POSITION.

I WOULD ARGUE THIS WAS EVEN MORE TRANSFORMATIVE BECAUSE OF WHERE THOSE PEOPLE WERE AT THAT POINT IN TIME.

EVERYTHING THAT THEY HAD TO DO WAS REGULATED, BUT TO SEE THESE MEN WALKING IN AND LIBERATING THEM, THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANS.

(UPBEAT MUSIC) (SOUNDS OF SOLDIERS MARCHING AND SHOUTING) SHARON: AFTER ENSLAVED PEOPLE WERE EMANCIPATED, THEIR FIRST OFFICIAL CELEBRATION THAT TOOK PLACE IN GALVESTON STARTED RIGHT HERE AT THE OLD GALVESTON COURTHOUSE.

RASOOL: RIGHT HERE.

SHARON: RIGHT HERE, AND IT CONSISTED OF A PROCESSIONAL FROM THE OLD GALVESTON COURTHOUSE TO THE COLORED CHURCH ON BROADWAY.

AND THE COLORED CHURCH ON BROADWAY WAS REEDY CHAPEL AME CHURCH.

ON JANUARY 2ND, THERE'S AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE PROCESSIONAL.

IT TALKS ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE THERE.

IT TALKS ABOUT THE WEATHER WAS EXTREMELY COLD AND RAINING THAT DAY.

AND THEY TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT THE WOMEN WALKED ON THE SIDEWALK AND THE MEN WALKED IN THE STREET, AND THAT THE LADIES' ANKLES WERE EXPOSED BECAUSE THEY HAD TO LIFT THEIR SKIRTS TO KEEP THEM FROM GETTING WET.

RASOOL: SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THE FIRST, LIKE, OFFICIAL CITYWIDE CELEBRATION OF JUNETEENTH HAPPENED IN JANUARY?

SHARON: YES, IT DID.

AND THE REASON IT HAPPENED IN JANUARY IS BECAUSE JANUARY 1ST WAS THE OFFICIAL EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION, SO THIS HAPPENED MORE THAN TWO AND A HALF YEARS AFTER THAT.

RASOOL: THIS PROCESSION STARTS HERE AND IT GOES TO REEDY CHAPEL.

WHY THE DECISION FOR THEM TO END THE PROCESSION THERE?

SHARON: I THINK THEY WERE PRAYERFUL AND JUST JOYOUSLY HAPPY THAT GOD HAD ANSWERED THEIR PRAYERS TO GRANT THEM FREEDOM.

AND SO WHAT THEY DID WHEN THEY WENT THERE WAS THEY SANG, THEY PRAYED, THEY GAVE THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES.

THEY STILL HAD THE FAITH, EVEN THROUGH ALL THOSE MANY YEARS OF ENSLAVEMENT, THEY HAD THE FAITH THAT THEY WOULD SOON BE FREE.

(BELL CHIMING) (UPBEAT MUSIC) DIANE MOORE: REEDY CHAPEL AME CHURCH IS THE OLDEST AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.

THIS CHURCH WAS FOUNDED IN 1848.

THEY SET IT UP AS A PLACE WHERE THEIR SLAVES COULD WORSHIP.

WHEN THE CIVIL WAR WAS OVER, THEY DEEDED THE CHURCH TO THE FORMERLY ENSLAVED PEOPLE.

RASOOL: WOW, SO, I MEAN, 1848, THAT'S SEVERAL DECADES.

DIANE: 174 YEARS AGO, WE JUST CELEBRATED THE 174TH ANNIVERSARY THIS MONTH.

RASOOL: THIS IS REALLY, LIKE, WHERE JUNETEENTH STARTS, IN TERMS OF AS A CELEBRATION.

OF ALL THE PLACES THAT SOMEONE COULD GATHER, WHY A CHURCH?

DIANE: WELL, PEOPLE WHO HAD BEEN COMING TO THIS CHURCH HAD HEARD ABOUT THE ISRAELITES, SLAVERY THERE, AND THIS IS...

THIS REMINDS THEM OF THAT.

AND THEN HARRIET TUBMAN WAS CALLED MOSES.

AND THE SONGS THAT WERE USED TO LET 'EM KNOW, "OKAY, IT'S TIME," ALL THE PEOPLE.

"GO THIS PLACE, GO THIS WAY," AND ALL THAT KIND OF THING.

SO A CHURCH WAS IN THE BACKGROUND.

RASOOL: WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE MOOD LIKE?

DIANE: I WOULD THINK THAT PEOPLE WERE VERY EXUBERANT, YOU KNOW?

BECAUSE THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THEY FOUND OUT THAT THEY WERE FREE.

IN FACT, IT'S SAID THAT FOR THAT 4TH OF JULY, IT WAS THE BLACK PEOPLE THAT CELEBRATED IN 1865, BECAUSE OTHERS CONSIDERED THAT'S PART OF THE UNION.

RASOOL: THAT IS REALLY INTERESTING.

SO, LIKE, 4TH OF JULY, 1865, AS THEY SAY, IT HIT DIFFERENT.

DIANE: IT HIT DIFFERENTLY.

FREEDOM IS THE ONLY THING I NEED FREEDOM THE ONLY THING I NEED INDEED FREEDOM COME AND FILL ME WITH YOUR TRUTH COME AND LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE THROUGH ON ME RASOOL: AFTER 246 YEARS, AND GENERATIONS OF FAMILIES LIVING THEIR WHOLE LIVES IN BONDAGE, THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY CAME TO AN END AND THE NEW CHAPTER IN THE AMERICAN STORY BEGAN.

I AM FREE INDEED SHARON: WHAT NEXT?

GENERATIONS OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ENSLAVED.

THEY HAD NO AGENCY OVER THEMSELVES.

THEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO MAKE A NEW LIFE.

THEY HAD TO FIGURE ALL OF THAT OUT.

CAREY: ONCE JUNETEENTH HAPPENED, AND THOSE SLAVES FELT THE TOUCH OF FREEDOM, THE PROMISE OF FREEDOM, THE FULFILLMENT OF THEIR HOPES AND DREAMS, THAT MEANS SOMETHING PSYCHOLOGICALLY.

YOU CAN'T BREAK A PERSON IN THE SAME KIND OF WAY WHEN THEY KNOW WHO THEY ARE, WHEN THEY KNOW WHAT THEIR RIGHTS ARE.

SO THAT'S CHANGED.

WHAT HASN'T CHANGED IS THE RACISM THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO DEAL WITH, AND THAT MAY HAVE ACTUALLY GOTTEN WORSE.

(MELANCHOLY MUSIC) RASOOL: IT HAD NEVER OCCURRED TO ME THAT THINGS COULD ACTUALLY GET WORSE AFTER THE END OF SLAVERY, BUT A FORM OF RACIAL MOB VIOLENCE REPLACED THE LASH AS THE PRIMARY FORM OF INTIMIDATION THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH.

MICHAEL: IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING EMANCIPATION, THE NUMBER OF LYNCHINGS THAT HAPPENED ALL ACROSS TEXAS WERE AT LEAST 800 WITHIN THAT FIRST YEAR OF FREEDOM.

RASOOL: 800 JUST WITHIN?

MICHAEL: IN THAT FIRST YEAR OF FREEDOM, 800 LYNCHINGS ACROSS THE STATE OF TEXAS.

RASOOL: WHAT DO YOU THINK ACCOUNTS FOR THAT?

I MEAN, THAT'S MORE THAN TWO A DAY.

MICHAEL: EXACTLY, I THINK IT'S A RAGE OF A SYSTEM AND SOCIETY CHANGING AND YOU'RE FEARFUL OF WHAT PLACE YOU'LL HAVE IN THAT SOCIETY.

RASOOL: THAT NEW SOCIETY WAS INITIALLY ENFORCED BY UNION TROOPS, BUT AFTER RECONSTRUCTION, VIOLENCE AND TERROR WERE UTILIZED TO PREVENT BLACKS FROM VOTING AND TO REESTABLISH THE PREVIOUS RACIAL CASTE SYSTEM THAT THRIVED DURING SLAVERY.

MICHAEL: THIS IS A LYNCHING DEPICTION OF WHERE THEY HAVE PLACED AN IMAGE OF A BLACK MAN HANGING ON A TREE IN ART.

YOU GOTTA THINK ABOUT THE MINDSET OF SOCIETY THAT WOULD FIND PLEASURE IN MASS PRODUCING PICTURES OF BLACK DEATH.

AS WE RESEARCH THE BACKS OF SOME OF THESE POSTCARDS, SOME WOULD SAY SOMETHING... RASOOL: OH, THIS IS A POSTCARD.

MICHAEL: OH, THIS IS A POSTCARD.

RASOOL: I JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS A PICTURE.

MICHAEL: OH, NO, THESE WERE MAILED ACROSS THE WORLD.

THESE WERE POPULAR.

RASOOL: THIS IS A MASS PRODUCED... MICHAEL: MASS PRODUCED IMAGE OF BLACK DEATH.

AND ON THE BACK, SOMETIMES PEOPLE WOULD WRITE, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM."

RASOOL: WOW.

MICHAEL: RIGHT?

IN OTHER CARDS, THEY WOULD PROUDLY SAY, "LOOK OVER TO THE RIGHT IN THE BACK CORNER "AND YOU'LL SEE ME.

I WAS THERE."

SO SOMEBODY TOOK THE TIME AND THE EFFORT TO PUT IN FORM OF ART AND TO MASS PRODUCE THIS POSTCARD DEPICTING A BLACK MAN HANGING FROM HIS NECK.

CAREY: THE SOUTH WANTS TO LIMIT FREEDOM TO THE MOST CONSCRIPTED WAY POSSIBLE, IE, THE FREEDOM TO NOT BE A SLAVE, BUT AS FAR AS CITIZENSHIP, NO, VOTING, NO, REAL RIGHTS, NO.

BLACK CODES ARE ENACTED.

SOME AREAS HAD BLACK CODES THAT SAY THAT BLACK PEOPLE CANNOT COME INTO THIS AREA, OR THAT BLACK PEOPLE HAD TO WORK IN CERTAIN TYPES OF OCCUPATIONS.

THEY COULD NOT WORK IN THESE TYPES OF OCCUPATIONS.

SO THESE ARE THE KINDS OF LAWS THAT RESTRICT BLACK MOBILITY.

YOU COULD HAVE CURFEWS.

SO ALL OF THESE KINDS OF THINGS ARE ENACTED TO KEEP BLACKS IN THEIR PLACE.

AND IF YOU LOOK AT GRANGER'S PROCLAMATION, IT SAYS GO BACK TO WORK, DOESN'T IT?

RASOOL: YES.

CAREY: SO WHAT WAS RACIALIZED SLAVERY NOW BECOMES ECONOMIC BECAUSE SLAVERY'S GOING TO BE REPLACED BY SOMETHING THAT'S SIMILAR, YET SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT.

SHARON: THE FORMERLY ENSLAVED PEOPLE ARE URGED TO REMAIN WITH THEIR FORMER OWNERS AND WORK FOR WAGES.

OF COURSE, SOME PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO PAY THEIR FORMERLY ENSLAVED PEOPLE, AND HERE'S WHERE YOU SEE THE SHARECROPPING SYSTEM COME INTO PLAY.

RASOOL: NOW, THAT SEEMS TO BE AN IMMEDIATELY, I MEAN, PROBLEMATIC IS A GENTLE WAY OF PUTTING IT, ALMOST UNTENABLE SITUATION, THAT YOU'RE TELLING PEOPLE TO NOW WORK WILLINGLY FOR PEOPLE WHO FORMALLY ENSLAVED THEM.

SHARON: YES, BUT IF YOU HAVE A FAMILY, THEN YOU HAVE A MOTIVATION TO STAY.

AND THE QUESTION IS, DO I GO OUT AND STRIKE OUT ON MY OWN?

RASOOL: THOUGH THERE WAS STILL CHALLENGES AND THE UNCERTAINTY OF THE GREAT UNKNOWN, THE GOOD NEWS OF FREEDOM SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE THROUGHOUT TEXAS AND TOOK ROOT UP THE ROAD IN HOUSTON, THEY CALLED IT FREEDMEN'S TOWN.

SO TO LEARN MORE, I MET UP WITH TWO DESCENDANTS OF THE FOUNDER OF FREEDMEN'S TOWN, REVEREND JACK YATES, MRS. JACQUELINE BOSTIC, AND HER DAUGHTER JACQUELINE BOSTIC MCELROY.

WE MET AT EMANCIPATION PARK, A PLOT OF LAND, REVEREND JACK YATES HELPED BUY TO INAUGURATE THE FIRST JUNETEENTH CELEBRATIONS IN HOUSTON.

BOSTIC; WELL, MY GREAT GRANDFATHER AND HIS WIFE, THEY HAD TEN CHILDREN.

THE PERSON WHO OWNED HIM AS A SLAVE THAT STAYED IN VIRGINIA, FREED... HIS SLAVES WERE FREED.

BUT THE SLAVE OWNER THAT OWNED MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER, HE WOULD NOT FREE HIS SLAVES.

HE CAME TO TEXAS.

SO IN ORDER FOR MY GREAT GRANDFATHER TO TAKE CARE OF HIS FAMILY AND HIS CHILDREN, HE HAD TO GO BACK INTO SLAVERY IN ORDER TO COME TO TEXAS.

RASOOL: WAIT, YOU'RE SAYING THAT HIS SLAVE OWNER FREED HIM?

BOSTIC: YES.

RASOOL: AND INSTEAD OF JUST ENJOY FREEDOM, YOUR GREAT-GRANDFATHER, HE JUST, LIKE, CHOSE TO BE BACK INTO SLAVERY TO STAY TOGETHER?

BOSTIC: AS A SLAVE.

RASOOL: OH MY GOSH, THAT IS A STORY.

(ALL LAUGHING) BOSTIC: WHEN 1865 ROLLS AROUND AND THE SOLDIERS AND EVERYBODY COMES INTO THESE AREAS AND TELLS THEM THAT THEY'RE NOW FREE, MY GREAT GRANDFATHER TOOK HIS WIFE AND HIS CHILDREN AND HE MOVED.

THEY CAME TO HOUSTON.

BOSTIC-MCELROY: VENTURING OUT ON THEIR OWN WAS THE UNKNOWN, THE UNSEEN.

AND SO IT TOOK FAITH TO SAY, NO, I'M GONNA DO THIS ON MY OWN.

AND I BELIEVE WHAT THEY DID IS EVERYTHING THAT THEY WERE DOING FOR SOMEBODY ELSE, BY THE GRACE OF GOD, THEY DID IT FOR THEMSELVES AND MADE A WAY.

BOSTIC: WHEN THEY CAME TO HOUSTON, THERE WERE NO INSTITUTIONS, NO SCHOOLS, NO CHURCHES FOR THEM HERE.

AND SO HE WENT ABOUT WHAT WE WOULD CALL TODAY, DEVELOPING WHAT WAS KNOWN AS FREEDMEN'S TOWN.

AND HE ALSO STARTED A CHURCH.

RASOOL: WHEN HE ARRIVED, THERE WERE NO INSTITUTIONS FOR HIS PEOPLE, SO REVEREND JACK YATES BUILT THEM.

HE STARTED WITH ANTIOCH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, SO I ASKED THE CURRENT SHEPHERD OF THE FLOCK, PASTOR LOU, TO SHOW ME AROUND.

PASTOR LOU: THIS IS OUR SANCTUARY.

VERY INTRICATE IN ITS DESIGN, VERY PURPOSED IN ITS LAYOUT.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THESE PEWS, WE SIT AND OUR CONGREGATIONS SIT IN THE SAME PEWS THAT THEY BUILT BACK THEN.

THEY'RE STILL GIFTED WITH THE TALENTS THAT THEY HAD IN BUILDING THIS COUNTRY.

NOW, THEY'RE POURING THE SAME TALENT INTO THIS SANCTUARY AND GIVING GOD THE GLORY.

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE MOST PROUD OF ABOUT THIS SANCTUARY IS IF YOU LOOK UP AT OUR CEILING STRUCTURE, YOU'LL SEE A CROSS THAT WAS MADE IN THE PITCHES AND THE CUTS OF OUR ROOF.

AND SO TO HAVE THIS IDEA OF CHRIST'S OUTSTRETCHED ARMS COVERING US, SERVING AS A REMINDER THAT IT WAS THROUGH HIS DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION THAT WE'RE EVEN HERE, I JUST FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT THESE GENTLEMEN, THESE MEN AND WOMEN WERE LED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO CREATE A BUILDING THAT IS STILL PREACHING TODAY.

RASOOL: THAT IMAGE OF JESUS, TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT.

PASTOR LOU: I LOVE THIS DEPICTION OF JESUS CHRIST, OUR LORD AND SAVIOR.

THOUGH BIBLICALLY CORRECT IN ITS INTERPRETATION AND DISPLAY, THE REFLECTION OF THAT STORY, OF COURSE, IS NOT CORRECT.

RASOOL: WHEN YOU SAY THE REFLECTION ISN'T CORRECT, WHAT ARE YOU REFERRING TO?

PASTOR LOU: WHEN I SAY REFLECTION IS NOT CORRECT, I'M SAYING THAT THE DEPICTION OF JESUS AS A EUROPEAN IN COLOR IS NOT CORRECT FOR FIRST CENTURY HISTORY, BUT WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT DEPICTION OF JESUS AND WE TIE IT TO OUR OWN SLAVE HISTORY, IT WAS A WAY OF CONTROL THAT JESUS IS WHITE.

AND SO WE LEAVE IT AS A TEACHING TOOL TO SHOW THAT COMING OUT OF SLAVERY, THIS IS ALL WHAT WE KNEW AT THE TIME.

BUT THAT DIDN'T LET JACK YATES, IT DIDN'T DISCOURAGE HIM FROM WORKING WITH WHITE FOLKS AND BLACK FOLKS.

WE PUT TOGETHER AND POURED IN TO BUILD THIS CHURCH.

RASOOL: YOU THINK THERE'S A LESSON FOR THAT FOR US TODAY?

PASTOR LOU: ABSOLUTELY, SO THIS NARRATIVE THAT YOU HEAR TODAY, THAT WHITE IS SEPARATE FROM BLACK AND ALL OF THE NOISE AND THE COMMOTION BEHIND THAT, IT'S LIKE JACK, IN READING SCRIPTURE, UNDERSTOOD THAT ALL MEN WERE CREATED EQUAL.

(MID TEMPO MUSIC) LISA: THEY DIDN'T GIVE GLORY TO ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THEY GAVE GLORY TO GOD.

AND SO WHY NOT BUILD A CHURCH TO HONOR WHO GAVE YOU FREEDOM?

YOU KNOW, THEY ALWAYS HAD THESE SECRET CHURCHES THAT THEY WOULD GO TO OUTSIDE OF WHAT THEIR SLAVE MASTER PROVIDED.

AND IT'S LIKE, WE WANNA BUILD A SPACE THAT LETS US WORSHIP THE GOD WHO LIBERATES US FULLY AS OURSELVES WITHOUT BEING TOLD THIS VIEW OF GOD THAT'S NOT TRUE TO SCRIPTURE.

AND SO ESSENTIALLY, I THINK BLACK PEOPLE PRESERVED CHRISTIANITY FOR AMERICA.

RASOOL: OKAY, YOU GOTTA BREAK THAT DOWN, THAT WAS HEAVY.

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

LISA: IT WAS BLACK CHRISTIANS WHO SAID, NO, THIS IS THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL.

THIS IS THE GOSPEL MESSAGE APART FROM SUPREMACY.

THIS IS WHAT JESUS CAME TO DO.

AND WE PRESERVED THAT MESSAGE WHEN WHITE SUPREMACISTS TRIED TO DISTORT IT, THAT WE KEPT THE MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL ALIVE.

RASOOL: SO YOU'RE SAYING, LIKE, THE REVEREND JACK YATES, WHO BUILT A CHURCH AND BUILT A COMMUNITY, HE'S NOT JUST DOING THIS FOR BLACK FOLK, BUT IT'S ALSO BEING A CORRECTIVE THAT IS A REFORMATION, IN A SENSE, OF THE CHURCH IN AMERICA AS A WHOLE.

LISA: YEAH, BECAUSE IF THEY DIDN'T NEED CORRECTED, ONCE WE WERE LIBERATED WE WOULD JUST GO BACK TO THEIR CHURCHES, BUT WE KNEW THAT THERE'S A TRUE CHRISTIANITY THAT NEEDS TO BE REPRESENTED TO OUR PEOPLE THAT'S HOLISTIC, THAT'S SOCIALLY ENGAGED, THAT EMPOWERS THEM ECONOMICALLY, EDUCATIONALLY.

WE ARE NOT JUST CONCERNED WITH THE SOUL, WE'RE CONCERNED WITH EVERY ASPECT OF THE PERSON.

IT'S A HOLISTIC SALVATION.

SO I THINK REVEREND YATES HAD THE FORESIGHT TO SEE WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CHURCH IS LEADING OUR PEOPLE IN THIS AREA.

SO IT'S BLACK DENOMINATIONS THAT ARE STARTING THESE SCHOOLS.

AND SO OUR HBCUS AND THE CHURCH ARE DEEPLY CONNECTED.

RASOOL: THIS HOLISTIC VISION OF REVEREND YATES AND SO MANY OTHERS FUELED THE DRIVE TO HEAL MIND, BODY, AND SOUL.

ONE THING I READ SOMEWHERE THAT THIS WHOLE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION THAT YOUR GREAT GRANDFATHER STARTED, THIS WAS ALL THAT THERE WAS TO EDUCATE THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY, WAS THESE INITIATIVES.

THERE WAS NO PUBLIC SCHOOL.

BOSTIC-MCELROY: RIGHT, JACK YATES KNEW THE VALUE OF EDUCATION, SO HE EDUCATED HIS PEOPLE.

BOSTIC: HE WOULD TEACH THEM DIFFERENT THINGS, HOW TO READ, HOW TO WRITE, HOW TO DO THE THINGS THEY NEEDED TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESSES.

AND HE MADE SURE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO CAME INTO HOUSTON FROM THE OUTER AREAS AS FORMER SLAVES HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN AND HOW TO PROVIDE FOR THEMSELVES.

ONCE UPON A TIME BUT NOT LONG AGO BEFORE THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND THE NEW JIM CROW SIT BACK I'LL INTRODUCE YOU TO A WONDERFUL PLACE IN EVERY STATE CALLED MY HOOD USA LIFE WASN'T PERFECT BUT THEY DID WHAT THEY COULD AND PEOPLE TOOK PRIDE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD THEY HAD DOCTORS AND LAWYERS ARTISTS BARBERS AND TEACHERS ENTREPRENEURS, POLITICIANS AND PREACHERS STABLE UNIVERSITIES, SPORTS LEAGUES AND BANKS WE INVEST IN TRADE HERE 'CAUSE IN OTHER PLACES YOU CAN'T BLACK OWNED FROM THE CRADLE TO THE COFFIN BEFORE THE NBA WE HAD A HISTORY OF BALLING DURHAM, GREENWOOD, ATLANTA, SWEET AUBURN, QUAKERTOWN AND THIRD WARD HOUSTON BUT HERE'S A CAUTION WHY THEY WANTED THEIR TURN AND JUST EARN AND MAKE A LIVING SOME JUST WANTED THEM TO BURN, BABY, BURN IT WAS VICIOUS IF THE CITY WASN'T CONSUMED BY UNEXPLAINED FLAMES IT WOULD EVENTUALLY CHANGE DUE TO IMMINENT DOMAIN HOW CAN YOU OWN A HOME IF YOU CAN'T GET A LOAN AND THE POWERS THAT BE JUST RED LINE YOUR ZONE?

RASOOL: FREEDMAN'S TOWN FLOURISHED UNDER THE SPIRITUAL AND CIVIC LEADERSHIP OF REVEREND JACK YATES AND OTHERS.

THE JOURNEY FROM ENSLAVED TO SELF-SUSTAINED WAS REMARKABLE.

THEY TURNED A BAYOU INTO A BUSTLING HOME BASE OF BLACK EXCELLENCE AND PERSISTED EVEN AFTER DECADES OF POLICIES LIKE REDLINING AND SEGREGATION.

BUT ALL OF THESE FACTORS FINALLY TOOK THEIR TOLL AS THE CITY BUILT THE HIGHWAY THAT RAN RIGHT THROUGH IT.

BUSINESSES CLOSED, THE NEIGHBORHOOD WAS DIVIDED, AND PEOPLE BEGAN MOVING TO OTHER PLACES TO FIND FREEDOM.

THOUGH MUCH OF ITS GLORIOUS PAST IS FADED.

RESIDENTS LIKE DEBRA ARE PRESERVING ITS RICH HISTORY AND RESTORING ITS FORMER GLORY.

DEBRA: THERE'S JUST A FEW LEFT.

THERE WERE 550 STRUCTURES WHEN THE 1985 NATIONAL REGISTERED APPLICATION WAS ADMINISTERED.

AND NOW THEY'RE LESS THAN 50 STRUCTURES THAT ARE LEFT.

RASOOL: LIKE THESE?

DEBRA: TOTAL.

550 STRUCTURES TOTAL.

RASOOL: JUST 20 YEARS AGO.

DEBRA: YES, GONE.

RASOOL: THEY REMAINED FOR OVER, YOU KNOW, LIKE, ALMOST 100 YEARS.

DEBRA: RIGHT, SO THEY'VE BEEN DEMOLISHED OR BURNED EITHER WAY.

RASOOL: WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU THAT THESE STRUCTURES REMAIN AND THE HISTORY IS PRESERVED?

DEBRA: WELL, THESE STRUCTURES TELL THE PERSISTENCE OF BLACK PEOPLE WHO HAD TO DEAL WITH JIM CROW RECONSTRUCTION, SO THIS IS A STORY OF RESISTANCE, AND PERSISTENCE AND ACCOMPLISHMENT.

RASOOL: SO A POWERFUL STORY.

DEBRA: YES, IT IS.

AND IT NEEDS TO BE HERE FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE TO LEARN IT.

I'M A NATIVE HOUSTONIAN.

I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT IT IN SCHOOL.

I WAS 40 YEARS OLD WHEN I LEARNED ABOUT THIS HISTORY.

IT WASN'T IN MY SCHOOL BOOKS, AT ALL.

RASOOL: WHAT WAS THE IMPACT ON YOU WHEN YOU DISCOVERED THIS HISTORY?

DEBRA: I WAS VERY SURPRISED, AND I WAS ALSO PROUD WHEN I FOUND OUT WHAT THESE PEOPLE ACCOMPLISHED.

RASOOL: DEBRA'S PRIDE IN FREEDMEN'S TOWN PROMPTS HER TO PRESERVE ITS PAST AND EDUCATE THE NEXT GENERATION, BUT THE PERSISTENCE DEBRA REFERENCES REVEALS THAT IN MANY WAYS, THE STRUGGLE FOR ABSOLUTE EQUALITY NEVER ENDED.

AND WHILE NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE FREEDMAN'S TOWN FOUGHT TO FLOURISH OR EVEN SURVIVE, ANOTHER BATTLE WAS TAKING PLACE THAT WASN'T JUST ABOUT GOVERNMENT POLICIES, BUT THE DARKNESS OF THE HUMAN SOUL.

MICHAEL: MY FRIEND, THIS IS AN AUTHENTIC KU KLUX KLAN HOOD AND ROBE FROM THE SECOND RISE OF THE KLAN IN 1915.

THIS IS CALLED A KU KLUX KLAN HERO CROSS.

THIS WAS GIVEN TO MEMBERS THAT WERE PART OF THE BEGINNING OF THE KLAN IN 1866 TO HONOR THEM DURING THE SECOND RISE IN 1915.

ON THE BACK OF HERE, YOU SEE A GENTLEMAN BY THE NAME OF WILLIAM JOSEPH SIMMONS.

HE WAS THE LEADER, IMPERIAL WIZARD OF THE SECOND RISE.

HE WAS A METHODIST MINISTER.

IN OCTOBER OF 1915, HE TOOK A GROUP OF MEN ATOP OF STONE MOUNTAIN, THEY BUILT AN ALTAR, PUT DOWN AN AMERICAN FLAG, A SWORD AND A BIBLE.

AND WILLIAM JOSEPH SIMMONS SAID HE HEARD THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN REJOICING AS THEY BEGAN THIS NEW MOVEMENT OF THE KLAN.

NOW, YOU THINK ABOUT THAT, YOU HAVE A METHODIST MINISTER WHO IS FOUNDING A NEW WHITE SUPREMACIST ORGANIZATION THAT IS BREEDING DEATH AND DESTRUCTION ACROSS THIS COUNTRY.

HE HAD A VERY, VERY UNIQUE VIEW OF WHAT THE SCRIPTURES DECLARED CONCERNING HIS CALLING IN THE WORLD.

AND THAT'S BEEN OUR CHALLENGE.

YOU CAN MAKE THE BIBLE SAY WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO SAY TO JUSTIFY WHATEVER YOU WANT IT TO JUSTIFY.

AND SO THAT'S BEEN THE CHALLENGE THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY OF INDIVIDUALS SHIFTING AND TWISTING THE SCRIPTURES TO MOTIVATE AND TO GIVE COVER FOR THEIR OWN DESIRES.

RASOOL: THERE'S A FEW DATES THAT YOU MENTIONED THAT JUST DIDN'T SEEM LIKE A COINCIDENCE.

1865, FREEDOM COMES TO TEXAS.

YOU SAID 1866 IS THE RISE OF THE KLAN.

MICHAEL: THE KLAN BEGINS AS A COUNTER MOVE TO THIS ERA OF RECONSTRUCTION.

RASOOL: SO IT WAS VERY MUCH A REACTION TO JUNETEENTH IN TEXAS.

MICHAEL: ABSOLUTELY.

RASOOL: NOW, WHAT ABOUT 1915?

WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE?

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THAT TIME?

MICHAEL: 1915, "THE BIRTH OF A NATION".

RASOOL: THE MOVIE.

MICHAEL: THE MOVIE BECOMES THE FIRST FILM SHOWN AT THE WHITE HOUSE.

THE HISTORY TELLS US THAT PEOPLE LEFT FROM THE MOVIE THEATERS AND WENT TO BLACK COMMUNITIES AND BEGAN TO ENACT ALL KINDS OF ATROCITIES MOTIVATED BY THAT FORM OF RACIAL PROPAGANDA.

THE TENSION OF THAT WHOLE MOVIE IS OF A WHITE MAN IN BLACK FACE CHASING A WHITE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS THROUGH THE FOREST, OF COURSE, WITH THE IDEA THAT HE'S GOING TO ASSAULT HER.

SHE JUMPS TO HER DEATH, AN HONOR KILLING, SAYING THAT IT'S BETTER THAT SHE DIE THAN TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF A BLACK MAN.

AND IT'S THE KU KLUX KLAN THAT RIDES IN AS THE KNIGHTS, AS THE HEROES TO SAVE THE DAY, TO SAVE THE NATION AND TO PURGE AMERICA FROM THE PRESENCE OF BLACK PEOPLE IN PUBLIC LIFE.

RASOOL: THOUGH ITS PLOT WAS BASED ON RACIST FANTASY, "BIRTH OF A NATION" BECAME THE FIRST BLOCKBUSTER FILM, AND ITS POPULARITY REKINDLED THE TERRORISM OF THE KU KLUX KLAN, WHICH SOUGHT TO REINSTITUTE THE CONTROL OVER BLACK BODIES THAT WAS LOST AT THE END OF SLAVERY.

THE CYCLE CONTINUED.

(SOLEMN MUSIC CONTINUES) FROM THE SLAVE BIBLE, TO THE BIRTH OF THE KLAN, TO JIM CROW SEGREGATION, THE MISUSE OF SCRIPTURE TO PROP UP RACISM HAS DEVASTATED MANY AND LEFT THE LEGACY WE STILL STRUGGLE TO BE FREE FROM.

THE PAST IS INDEED ALWAYS PRESENT WITH US.

BUT RIGHTEOUS EFFORTS TO RESIST RACISM ALSO HAVE PERSISTED AFTER EMANCIPATION AND THOSE EFFORTS GAINED AN UNEXPECTED CHAMPION FROM A WOMAN WELL INTO HER 90'S, SMALL IN STATURE, BUT SO LARGE IN HER IMPACT THAT SHE HAS BECOME KNOWN AS THE GRANDMOTHER OF JUNETEENTH.

BUT MS. OPAL LEE'S FIRST MEMORY OF JUNE 19TH SHOCKINGLY REVEALS HOW EVEN A CENTURY AFTER EMANCIPATION, TEXAS WAS FAR FROM DEMONSTRATING THE ABSOLUTE EQUALITY OF GENERAL ORDER III.

MS. OPAL: AND WOULD YOU BELIEVE THE PAPER SAID ON THE 19TH OF JUNE, 500 PEOPLE GATHERED?

RASOOL: WAIT, HOLD ON, SO THE 500 PEOPLE THAT GATHERED, THIS WASN'T A JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION?

MS. OPAL: NOT BY A LONG SHOT.

RASOOL: THEY GATHERED IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE.

MS. OPAL: YEAH.

RASOOL: YOUR FAMILY'S HOUSE.

MS. OPAL: HMM, HMM.

RASOOL: WHITE PEOPLE, TO INTIMIDATE THE FAMILY.

MS. OPAL: POLICE COULDN'T CONTROL THE MOB.

AND WHEN MY DAD CAME WITH A GUN, THE POLICE TOLD HIM, "IF YOU BUST A CAP, WE'LL LET THIS MOB HAVE YOU."

WELL, MY PARENTS SENT US TO FRIENDS' SEVERAL BLOCKS AWAY, AND THEY LEFT UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS.

THOSE PEOPLE BURNED THE FURNITURE, DRUG OUT STUFF, BURNED THE PLACE.

AND MY PARENTS NEVER, EVER SAID ANYTHING TO US ABOUT IT, NEVER.

THEY WORKED, AND WORKED, AND WORKED AND BOUGHT ANOTHER HOME.

RASOOL: DO YOU KNOW, WHY DID THE MOB COME UP TO YOUR PARENTS' HOUSE?

MS. OPAL: WE WERE IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD AND THEY DIDN'T WANT US THERE, AND THAT WAS THEIR WAY OF SAYING, "GET OUT."

NOT KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR AND SAY, "WE DON'T NEED YOU HERE, "BUT WE'LL SHOW YOU."

SAM: MAYA ANGELOU HAS, "HISTORY, DESPITE ITS WRENCHING PAIN, "CANNOT BE UNLIVED, "BUT IF FACED WITH COURAGE, NEED NOT BE LIVED AGAIN."

SO WHAT WE HAVE TO DO AS A COUNTRY AND AS INDIVIDUALS, AS WE CONTINUE TO TELL THESE STORIES, WE'RE DOING REPAIR WORK TO OUR AMERICAN HOME.

THIS AMERICAN HOME HAS BAD WIRING, BAD PLUMBING, FOUNDATION IS OFF.

AND THIS GENERATION IS ON THE DEED AS OWNERS, SO IT IS OUR JOB TO REWIRE THE HOUSE, REPLUMB IT, FIX THE FOUNDATION SO THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS WE'RE DEALING WITH.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED, WE HAVE DEFERRED MAINTENANCE ON THE BUILDING AND IT'S TIME FOR US TO DO THE REPAIR WORK AND BECOME NEW AGAIN SO THAT THE OLD THINGS WILL BE BEHIND US AND WE BECOME A BETTER SOCIETY, AND WE BECOME A BETTER STATE, A BETTER COUNTRY, AND HOPEFULLY A BETTER WORLD BY GETTING THIS AMERICAN HOUSE FIXED.

MICHAEL: I THINK YOU CAN BE DISTANT FROM MOVEMENT.

WE HAVE NOT FULLY EMBRACED THE COMMAND OF GOD TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

WHEN YOU LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, THAT'S NOT JUST A CHILD OVER THERE THAT'S HURT, THAT'S MY CHILD.

THAT'S NOT JUST A COMMUNITY OVER THERE THAT'S OSTRACIZED, THAT'S MY COMMUNITY.

YOU FEEL THE PAIN THROUGH PROXIMITY.

THAT'S OUR CALL, IS TO BE MORE LIKE THE CHRIST.

THAT'S THE JESUS WE ESPOUSE, THAT'S THE JESUS WE UPLIFT WHO CAME TO LIBERATE THE CAPTIVE, OPEN UP THE EYES SO THAT WE ALL SEE AND BRING EQUITY TO THE WORLD THROUGH JUBILEE.

MS. OPAL: I'D FINISHED COLLEGE, TAUGHT SCHOOL, HAD A FAMILY, FOOD BANK THAT WE DISCOVERED AND A FARM, THEY CALLED IT OPAL'S FARM.

BUT I WAS ABOUT 89 YEARS OLD AND I FELT LIKE I HADN'T DONE ENOUGH.

AND I FELT THERE OUGHT TO BE SOMETHING ELSE I CAN DO.

I DECIDED IF A LITTLE OLD LADY IN TENNIS SHOES WAS WALKING UP AND DOWN THE HIGHWAY, SOMEBODY WOULD PAY ATTENTION.

AND SO FROM THE CHURCH, I WALKED TWO AND A HALF MILES TO SYMBOLIZE THAT THE ENSLAVED IN TEXAS DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE FREE FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS AFTER THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.

I WALKED FROM FORT WORTH, TO ARLINGTON, TO GRAND PRAIRIE, TO DALLAS, TO JOPPA, TO BALCH SPRINGS.

MY TEAM SAYS, "YOU'LL ONLY GO WHERE YOU ARE INVITED "AND WHERE THEY HAVE JUNETEENTH CELEBRATIONS."

WELL, I WAS INVITED ALL OVER THESE UNITED STATES, (UPBEAT MUSIC) AND PEOPLE WERE SO NICE.

I CAN'T BEGIN TO TELL YOU GOING TO EACH OF THOSE STATES, MEETING PEOPLE WHO, TOO, WANTED JUNETEENTH TO BECOME A HOLIDAY.

(UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES) MY GRANDDAUGHTER GOT THE WORD TO GO TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND THAT PRESIDENT BIDEN WAS SIGNING A BILL TO MAKE JUNETEENTH A FEDERAL HOLIDAY.

I'M STILL ON CLOUD NINE.

I COULD HAVE DONE A HOLY DANCE, BUT THE KIDS SAYS WHEN I TRY THAT, I'M TWERKING, WHATEVER THAT IS, SO I DIDN'T TRY.

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) LAWRENCE: I GOT A TELEPHONE CALL FROM THE WHITE HOUSE AND IT SAID, "WELL, WE HEARD THAT "YOUR DAD WAS KIND OF SIGNIFICANT."

AND THEN WE TOLD THEM THE HISTORY.

AND ONCE WE DID THAT, THEY SAID, "HOW FAST CAN YOU GET TO WASHINGTON DC?"

SO ME AND MY DAUGHTER GOT ON THE PLANE.

WE WENT TO WASHINGTON AND WE WERE JUST GETTING A TOUR THROUGH THE WHITE HOUSE, AND IT WAS JUST TOTALLY AMAZING.

TOTALLY, TOTALLY AMAZING.

TALKED TO THE PRESIDENT.

I TOLD HIM MY STORY.

I CRIED QUITE A BIT, AND IT WAS VERY, VERY EMOTIONAL.

IT REALLY WAS.

MATTER OF FACT, THE MOST IMPORTANT PART WAS I THOUGHT ABOUT MY DAD, HOW HE FOUGHT FOR THIS.

RASOOL: WOW, SO HE DIDN'T GET TO SEE IT, BUT YOU GET TO LIVE IT AND EXPERIENCE THAT.

LAWRENCE: AND THAT WAS THE JOY.

WE FELT LIKE WHEN WE GOT THERE, WHEN ME AND MY DAUGHTER GOT THERE, WE CRIED OUR LITTLE CRY AND IT WAS THAT WE WERE HERE FOR HIM.

RASOOL: THE JOURNEY FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM HAS BEEN LONG AND ARDUOUS, AND EACH GENERATION HAS HAD TO PICK UP FROM THE LAST, PASSING THE LEGACY ON, AND THAT'S WHY THE NATIONAL RECOGNITION MEANS SO MUCH TO LAWRENCE AND MANY OTHERS.

IT GIVES VALIDATION TO THE STRUGGLE OF THEIR ANCESTORS AND OPPORTUNITY TO CELEBRATE DIVINE DELIVERANCE OF BOTH BODY AND SOUL.

IT'S A GIFT OF HOPE TO THEIR CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, AND PEOPLE LIKE ME.

MS. OPAL: LOOK AT THAT, THE SIGNING OF THE BILL INTO LAW.

I FELT LIKE WE HAD ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING.

AND SO THIS IS JUST A LITTLE PUSH AND THE YOUNGSTERS COMING ON ARE GONNA MAKE IT A TIDAL WAVE, AND EVERYBODY IS GOING TO UNDERSTAND THAT FREEDOM IS FOR ALL OF US.

CAREY: WE ARE A COMMUNITY, NOT JUST BLACK PEOPLE, BLACK, WHITE, HISPANIC, ASIAN, ALL OF US ARE A COMMUNITY.

AND WHEN ONE BECOMES MORE FREE, WE ALL BECOME A LITTLE MORE FREE.

AND ON JUNE 19TH, 1865, SOMEBODY GOT FREEDOM.

SOMEBODY'S CHILD GOT FREEDOM, SOMEBODY'S MAMA GOT FREEDOM, SOMEBODY'S GRANDMAMA GOT FREEDOM.

AND WHEN THAT HAPPENED, THAT'S LIKE AN EXODUS EXPERIENCE ALL OVER AGAIN.

I'M A VESSEL MS. OPAL: PEOPLE WANT TO THINK OF IT AS A BLACK THING OR A TEXAS THING, BUT IT'S NOT.

IT'S FREEDOM FOR EVERYBODY.

AND I ADVOCATE CELEBRATING FREEDOM FROM THE 19TH OF JUNE TO THE 4TH OF JULY.

BRUISED AND BATTERED BUT NOT BROKEN BROUGHT IN SIN BUT FROM SIN SET FREE RASOOL: THE STORY OF JUNETEENTH IS TEACHING ME THAT AN END OF SLAVERY, NO MATTER HOW MESSY AND INCOMPLETE, IS WORTHY OF CELEBRATION.

IT IS AN INVITATION TO MEET DESPAIR WITH HOPE, OPPRESSION WITH JUSTICE, AND HATE WITH LOVE.

AND EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS UNATTAINABLE, MY FAITH CALLS ME TO NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM.

THANK YOU FATHER FOR YOUR POWER IT HAS RESURRECTED ME OH THE PAINFUL GOD KNOWS I'VE HAD SOME PAINFUL CIRCUMSTANCES.

WOO, THAT MY POOR SOUL COULD NOT FLEE HALLELUJAH RASOOL: DON'T SOUND LIKE YOU'RE SLOWING DOWN ANY.

MS. OPAL: (CHUCKLING) THERE'S WORK TO DO AND PLENTY OF IT.

UP, LOOK UP, BLOOD ON THE CLOCK NO LIGHT, DEATH TO THE CROPS DON'T LISTEN, LIES THROUGH THE TEETH LET HISTORY TELL THE TRUTH, JUNETEENTH (SONG CONTINUES)