Dr. Curtis Jasper tells attendees about the significance of Juneteenth.
Dr. Curtis Jasper, a psychologist in Atlanta, traveled to Ocean City on Saturday to celebrate a significant day in history during a Juneteenth celebration.
Attendees gathered for the day of reflection at a city park between Seventh and Eighth streets and Haven Avenue, where Jasper and other speakers talked about the importance of knowing history.
On June 19, 1865, enslaved Africans in Texas learned of their freedom, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. It is a day that has been celebrated since, according to the Ocean City Juneteenth Organization.
“I’m here to challenge you. I’m here to agitate you. I’m here to celebrate with you,” Jasper said from a stage in the park. “But I’m also here to educate you that although you may not acknowledge the significance of this day, June 19 to be exact, your humanity, the history of your family, is directly tied to African descent.”
Jasper focused on how peace is a part of freedom and how Juneteenth is a huge independence celebration.
“There is no freedom without peace and there is no peace without freedom,” he said. “We need to celebrate Juneteenth, but we also need to stir things up in a positive way.”
Atlanta-based grief counselor Dr. Cynthia Williams also spoke of the importance of the day in history and how knowing one’s ancestry is vital to moving toward a positive future and good life.
She emphasized that “If you don’t know your purpose, take today to find your purpose.”
“You’ve got to free yourself from your historical traumas. You got to free yourself from even yesterday if it was a pain,” Williams said. “You’ve got to know what it looks like to walk in your destiny with the purpose attached to your life and make something shake and move for you.”
The lightly attended event also featured music and vendor tables with apparel, sunglasses and jewelry and other items and a smoothie table.
Lucius Brown, 23, of Absecon, and his fiancee, Vivianna, 22, checked out some of the vendor tables. Lucius grew up in Ocean City.
“We came to just celebrate the day,” Brown said.
“It’s a special day in history,” Vivianna added.
Lucius and Vivianna Brown, of Absecon, enjoy the celebration.Dan Sinclair, a promoter, grew up in Ocean City and organized the event, in its second year.
“I had help from Assemblyman Antwan McClellan and Josh Baker,” Sinclair said.
McClellan grew up in Ocean City and still lives in town. Baker grew up in Ocean City.
While Sinclair, who lives in Atlanta, was thankful to them for their help, he noted that this year’s event created by South Jersey Festivals was sparsely attended compared to the event last year.
“Last year we collaborated with the NAACP. This year, they had their own event, which I think cut the numbers down,” Sinclair noted.
He said the event “means a lot” to him, especially growing up in the resort.
“This is the same center I used to play basketball at as a kid. Looking out at the kids
playing brings back all of the memories. It rejuvenates me,” he said.
Kids enjoy ice cold smoothies.Sinclair said that there were concerns going into the event that it may not be well-attended this year. He blamed it on a backlash from posts on social media.
“There were some racist remarks and feedback,” Sinclair noted of remarks on social media.
He did not elaborate on the remarks, but said, “When I see remarks like that, it is disheartening to me coming back home, especially being from here.”
He further stated that once it was brought to the attention of the administrator of the social media site, the remarks were immediately taken down and there was a message from the site noting that such comments were “disgusting,” Sinclair pointed out.
Sinclair said that even though the racist comments were taken off the page by the
administrator, he believed it hurt the attendance for the festival this year
