About 60 people from the Swampscott community gathered on the Town Hall lawn Monday to honor and celebrate Juneteenth, reflecting on both history and what the future holds.
Juneteenth, a federal holiday celebrated on June 19, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. The Swampscott jubilee included colorful beads, flags, face paint and food. Attendees also heard from a variety of speakers, heard a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” and watched the Juneteenth flag raise on the lawn.
“Our goal is to help Swampscott become an even more welcoming community through appreciation and exercise,” said Ralph Edwards, a co-founder of Swampscott Unites, Respects Embraces (S.U.R.E.) Diversity. “
Juneteenth, which is a conglomeration of the words “June” and “nineteenth,” refers to the day in 1865 when Major General Gordon Granger ordered for the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas. The day was federally recognized as a holiday in 2021 when Congress enacted and former President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law.
Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity (METCO) co-director Temi Bailey shared the history of Juneteenth with the jubilee attendees.
“I think our approach is somewhat novel,” Edwards said. “Swampscott, when you look at ethnic diversity, the number of African Americans is very low. What’s very valuable is for the non-Black people in Swampscott to talk with each other about Black history. Black history is our history.”
The racial and ethnic breakdown of Swampscott, according to to the 2020 Decennial Census is:
| Race | Number of Swampscott’s 2020 Residents | Percentage of Swampscott’s 2020 Population (15,883) |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 23 | .14% |
| Asian | 330 | 2.08% |
| Black or African American | 266 | 1.67% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 1,002 | 6.31% |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander | 5 | .03% |
| White, not Hispanic or Latino | 12,959 | 81.59% |
| Other Race | 416 | 2.62% |
| Two or More Races | 882 | 5.55% |
A lot of people don’t know American history,” Edwards said. “So many people don’t understand that the tensions that we have now are from not addressing slavery.”
“Many talked about the ongoing struggles within the country, with today’s political environment. Lynn’s Poet Laureate, Michelle “LaPoetica” Richardson said that while “we’re living in these dark days,” celebrating holidays like Juneteenth “reminds people of the importance of working together.”
“A lot of what Juneteenth is is the fact that we were freed for along time before we found out,” Richardson said. “A lot of that is happening today, right now. It’s not about seeing it as a color thing anymore, because if a ‘one-drop rule’ is real, we’re all Black. The fact of the matter is that we need to put all that aside and understand it’s rich against poor. It’s evil versus good, and it’s hate versus love.”
Kashawn Little, a member of the North Shore Juneteenth Association, shared a similar sentiment in his speech. He shared with the Swampscott Tides that the country needs to return to looking at itself as a melting pot rather than a tossed salad because “in a tossed salad if you don’t like something, you take it out.” Instead, “we have to embrace each other’s differences.”
In his speech, Little shared how he was honored as Lynn’s local Black excellence recipient last year but almost did not accept the award.
“While many were quick to celebrate me publicly, some of the same voices disappeared when it came time to have those hard conversations, the ones about race, equality, injustice and belonging,” Little said. “It’s easy to cheer for someone, for someone’s success, but it’s much harder to stand beside them in their struggle.”
Little shared that Black excellence is more than just celebration.
“It’s about showing up, speaking out and staying in the fight,” Little said. “The 2024 election results have opened up the doors for attacks on civil rights, women’s rights, voting rights, immigration rights. We are witnessing the unraveling of the very protections that our ancestors fought and bled for in the civil rights movement.”
Bailey also told the Swampscott Tides the struggles Black slaves faced are honored through Juneteenth but also serve as a lesson for today.
“It feels like the inalienable rights we were born with aren’t really implied anymore,” Bailey said.
Slavery continued in Delaware and Kentucky until December of 1865, six months after the proclamation in Texas. The 13th Amendment had a “loophole,” as Little called it, to allow slavery as a punishment for a crime.
“That is why Juneteenth isn’t just a celebration,” Little said. “It is a warning and reminder that every inch of freedom in this country has been fought for, and that freedom can always be reversed when we look away. We must not look away now.”
