Loading...
Brewster Honors Juneteenth With Second Annual Celebration
Paola Collazos and Monica Montoya-Quintero pose at their booth for Nauset’s Multilingual Parent and Caregiver Advisory Council at Drummer Boy Park. MACKENZIE BLUE PHOTOS
Issa Coulibaly (right) practices beats with members of the ensemble.
Police Chief Heath Eldredge opened the Juneteenth ceremony by reading the Emancipation Proclamation.
Victoria Brown, left, and Natasha Faith perform a traditional West African dance routine with support from the drum ensemble.
Kaja Scott sits at the face-painting booth receiving a colorful design.
Gemma and Naomi Gans sit for storytime with Brewster Book Store co-owner Jessica Devin. She hosted storytimes throughout the event with books about Juneteenth.
Owen Bates adds some color to the collaborative art piece at the front of the event. Attendees were able to fill in the heart using the colors of the Juneteenth flag and sign their names.
The Brewster Cultural Council set up a station where kids could paint their own hearts to bring home.
A few participants danced while listening to the Fred Clayton Band.
Fred Clayton (center), a local blues artist, performs with his band.
Natasha Faith and Victoria Brown stay in-sync as they dance to the rhythmic beats of the drum ensemble.
Natasha Faith performs a solo. She also spoke at the opening ceremony, asking listeners to reflect on the difficulties still persistent in our society.
Faith watches as Brown performs a solo.
BREWSTER – Locals and visitors alike braved the heat last Thursday to participate in a Juneteenth celebration at Drummer Boy Park, the only town-hosted event commemorating the holiday on the Lower Cape.
Brewster Police Chief Heath Eldredge opened the celebration by reading the Emancipation Proclamation. He introduced Natasha Faith, a dancer, writer, poet and entrepreneur who has performed with the Cape Cod Arts and Justice Collective.
Juneteenth, first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, commemorates June 19, 1865, when the Emancipation Proclamation, which was issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, was read by U.S. Major General Gordon Granger to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas.
Faith, who went on to perform at the event, shared a reflection she had written about the holiday and its symbolism in Brewster.
“How do we celebrate diversity locally in a town that is predominantly white?” she asked. “How do we begin to acknowledge minority and diversity relying on support from the majority?”
She said that the only answer to these questions is opening a dialogue and having much-needed conversations.
“One heart-to-heart dialogue after another, addressing our own inner prejudices, because we are dancing in a narrative that has been motivated by oppression for generation after generation,” she said. “So, with one hard conversation after another, embracing experiences and acknowledging emotions, self-blame, anger, humiliation, fearlessness, pride. The only way is through. We must be the change we want to see.”
After Faith’s remarks, a drum ensemble featuring Issa Coulibaly, a Master Djembe Drummer, set the stage with rhythmic music, as Faith and Victoria Brown performed a choreographed traditional West African dance.
The event, sponsored by the Brewster Cultural Council, the Brewster Ladies’ Library, the Brewster Council on Aging and Cape Cod 5, featured live music, family-friendly crafts, food and educational activities.
Booths from the Brewster Book Store, the cultural council, Nauset’s Multilingual Parent and Caregiver Advisory Council, the Brewster Ladies’ Library and more were set up for attendees to peruse. Most featured crafts for kids, including painting their own heart with the Juneteenth flag colors at the cultural council’s booth. Others provided informational pamphlets about the holiday and what local organizations are doing in support of the community.
Jessica Devin, co-owner of the Brewster Book Store, hosted multiple storytimes throughout the day featuring children's books written about the holiday.
The event, which lasted from around 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., also included windmill tours with the Brewster Historical Society, face painting and food and ice cream trucks.
Eldredge thanked the local players who were key contributors to the event, including COA Director Elton Cutler; Devon Evans, assistant director at the Brewster Ladies’ Library; Clare O’Connor Rice, chair of the Brewster Cultural Council; Annie Rapaport, program coordinator at the COA; and Town Administrator Peter Lombardi.
“Systemic racism is a disease. There is no need in grappling it, countering it. We all understand that this system is methodic and foundational,” said Faith. “Today, on June 19, and every day before and after, we must make efforts to not undo what has been done but walk in the path of healing trauma after trauma.”
You may also like:
