Strawberries, the Red of the Blood of the Ancestors, a Bit of the Needham Story and Juneteenth - First Parish Needham ...

Strawberries, the Red of the Blood of the Ancestors,
                    a Bit of the Needham Story and Juneteenth…

First History lesson: Juneteenth is a commemoration of an ‘end of enslavement event; in Galveston
Texas . Two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the enslaved Black people ( 250,0000) of
Texas were fnally free from slavery. This image above depicts the people listening to the
proclamation at the government building as read by Maj General Emery. This is the newspaper
clipping of June 19, 1865. And ten minutes ago, I just watched another historic moment with tears
in my eyes, as Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden signed it into law while witnessed
Miss Opal Lee the long time advocate for a national Juneteenth Holiday.
An historic and beautiful sight!

The Back Story: The founding of Needham was completely entangled with the history of
Enslavement. Several people of Black, perhaps African, Caribbean or Indigenous origins were
enslaved in Needham from it's founding in 1711. And most probably all the way back to 1635 when
Dedham was settled and called ‘Contentment’. What is now Needham, Wellesley and everything
down to Attleboro, including the present town of Dedham, was Dedham. The land where we live,
the lives of the people here, Black, Indigenous, White were part of that story. It is our sacred
obligation to unwind this story, speak of it and publicly acknowledge it and Repair this painful and
long lasting legacy of enslavement! Remember Massachusetts, this is a First, the frst encoded
legalization of Enslavement for which we need to atone. I believe, in order to heal an historic
trauma with centuries of repercussions, you need to go back to the inception of the trauma, its
origin story. Massachusetts… Needham… has signifcant work to do to heal this ‘Original Sin’ of the
American Story as President Biden termed it yesterday,

Among the People who were enslaved in Needham/Dedham/ Wellesley was a man who was
named Homer by his enslaver, the First Minister of the First Parish Church, Jonathan Townsend and
purchased for him as part of a ‘wedding dowery’ by his father in law Gregory Sugers, a sea captain.
Homer was bonded in enslavement to the Townsend family from 1721 until his death in 1754.
We feel he toiled unpaid cleaning the church, cutting wood and lighting fres, digging graves plus
working a farmstead and all the chores like procuring well water or water form springs. ALL unpaid.

There was a particularly odious habit of the ‘educated’ religious gentry in Massachusetts and New
England to name or re- name enslaved People to accord a manner of status to the enslaver. In other
words, show off your Harvard, Yale or Dartmouth education by calling the person you are enslaving
after Homer author of the The Odyssey, or another character form classical literature. Or name
him for the enslaved man in ‘The Bible’ like Cotton Mather named the man he enslaved,
Onesimus who was bought for him when his congregation pooled their money to purchase
him. Incidentally, Onesimus saved large segments of the population of Boston when he instructed
Mather on the practice of inoculation against Small Pox. How prescient this often forgotten historic
memory is for these times... Or calling a man Boston or Bristol after the ‘great’ seaports to prop up
their street or should I say ocean cred as merchants. Think Triangle Trade.

Several of us connected to the First Parish Church, Needham lead by the efforts of Rev. Catie
Scudera and Ministerial Intern, Jenna Crawford and begun by Jeannette Anderson of the History &
Archives Committee, and Becky Siebens with the research skill of Dr. Gloria Greis of the Needham
History Center, have been engaged in re- learning this period of colonial enslavement in Needham.
The period of enslavement lasted approximately 70 years when Needham was called Needham.
More realistically when Needham was Dedham from the 1630’s onwards is how long enslavement
existed in Needham, until slavery was fnally abolished in Massachusetts in 1783. So often the Bay
State, the Commonwealth acknowledges itself as the frst state to abolish slavery, completely
forgetting we were the frst to encode it, enact it, make it legal under the Governorship of
Gov. Winthrop! Since our current Governor Charlie Baker was born and raised in Needham, how
full circle if Needham could take a role in encouraging this Governor to offer an offcial apology and
repair for the nearly 150 years of Enslavement History of the practice in Massachusetts plus the

eighty more years that many in the Commonwealth had signifcant fnancial and other benefts due
to the continued legalization of slavery in most states. Even unpacking the story of Needham
Heights and my neighbor (in history), William Carter… I live on the land Carter and his family
purchased as does Rev. Scudera and many of you who live in the Heights. How did this land
purchase and his highly proftable underwear company beneft by the cheap prices of cotton from
the south, a signifcant legacy of slavery?

This History isn’t easy to digest or live with whether your family was enslaved or enslaving others or
your family came far later to these shores yet you beneftted economically from slavery or your
family was Indigenous and had land and culture stolen. The institutional racism that was founded
along with this country exists in so many institutions today. Speaking Truth and listening to the
pains of others
is a beginning.
And May the
sweetness of
strawberries
speak to us
about a new
lens of history
and memory
and
celebration.

Strawberries
and
Juneteenth…
The tradition is
to eat foods that
are the color red
for Juneteenth…
Favorites have
evolved like Red
Velvet Cake,
Strawberry Pie
and Strawberry
Soda,
Watermelon
Salad...

Several Sources of History, Education and Food on Juneteenth

History of Juneteenth, Dr. Shennette Garrett- Scott
m.youtube.com/watch?vzdli_53jihMM
Interesting lecture from an historical & activist perspective.

Celebrating Juneteenth: The Legacy of Frederick Douglass
m.youtube.com/watch?v=4qQVlCzQyE
Fascinating talk from two historians associated with the New York Historical Society,
They discuss the Big and little lies of history like the omission of much of Black History and
Enslavement History and the Southern Lost Cause, sentimentalizing the Southern Rebellion States
and how the era following Reconstruction. A false narrative of history was created throughout the
South for generations during the era of Jim Crow and up almost until the present. This is a time of
Jim Crow, sharecropping, a signifcant diminution of legal, economic & voting rights, a dramatic
rise in lynching & the building of monuments commemorating the Rebel Cause. It is a time when
the writing of ‘Gone with the Wind’ and other narratives that painted pictures of the ‘kindly master’
and the lie that ‘slavery wasn’t so bad’ and the ‘lost & noble cause’ of the ‘Southern Cause’. One
author has just completed an exhaustive study of Frederick Douglass in his later years, the other
James Baldwin. Infused into the conversation, the history and writings of these two most prolifc
and astute essayists who bookend the century of Black and American history, plus the revolution
since the death of George Floyd.

Juneteenth from Black-ish
m.youtube.com/watch?v=gbvaYebatK8

m.youtube.com/watch?v+Ad_mKqFkGA

These are the musical numbers in a Hamiltonesque ode to the Juneteenth History and Celebration
that the Johnson family ( Black-ish) sings and dances through in a now ground breaking recognition
of the importance of the Holiday.. The show for those who don’t watch, is flled with walk the line
cringeworthy humor about racism, race relations, class issues and raising children, family. It has a
fantastic ensemble cast including the hysterical Anthony Anderson, the acting legend Laurence
Fishburne, the fabulous Jenifer Lewis and the very talented Tracee Ellis Ross and some of the most
talented young actors, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Marsai Martin and Miles Brown. Family &
work colleagues in the cast include Wanda Sykes, Beau Bridges and Daveed Diggs. To watch the
work scenes of Anderson’s ‘Dre’ who grew up in ‘the hood’ and regularly interacts with his Black
Colleagues who try to explain what it’s like to their very clueless and very ‘unwoke’ White
colleagues is using humor at it’s best to highlight so many issues. Btw Tracee Ellis Ross’ mom is

Diana Ross, so when she discusses harmonizing in the cast talk about the episode, you can almost
imagine her mother in the background rehearsing her through harmonies. (I apologize that I
couldn’t fnd a free copy of the entire episode to put the musical numbers into context. Totally
worth a bit of searching or paying for viewing the episode.)

Juneteenth Virtual Conversation with Black-ish
m.youtube.com/watch?v= xnQtAGdhu8u

Black-ish Juneteenth Mashup
m.youtube.com/v=7eL8S_oqkKw

Carla Hall’s Juneteenth Recipes including strawberry frozen drinks, curry sweet potato salad
and pork rubbed with Texas brisket rub… www.abcnews.ga.com/GMA/Food/video/chef-carla-
hall-shares-delicious-meaningful-recipes-juneteenth-713397751/

Marcus Samuelson
m.youtube.com/watch?v=AL69ioWHFSE

“Four African American Chefs on the Importance of Juneteenth”
by Dana Givens, June 15, 2019
This article features well known Black American Chefs Carla Hall, Marcus Samuelsson, JJ Johnson,
& Jerome Grant, who creates the menu at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History.
www.saveur.com/juneteenth-african-american-chefs/

Kenneth Temple Red Velvet
Biscuit with BBQ Brisket
How delicious does this sound, red
velvet biscuits w bbq brisket, in a
sandwich? Add greens, pickled
onion or radish with a side of sweet
potato chips and you are happy!
Instead of the food dye in the
biscuits, can you make a beet and
sugar slurry to turn the biscuits
red? Or once in a while, the red
dye number whatever can go in…
Just a few drops… Enjoy!
www.kennethtemple.com/red-
velvet-biscuit-with-bbq-brisket/

“What My Southern
Grandparents Taught Me About
Juneteenth” by James E. Causey,
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Ah… the joys of strawberry
soda… Author James E. Causey
recalls the elders in his family
celebrating Juneteenth and the
annual pilgrimage with his father to
buy the sacred strawberry soda
and his recollections of Juneteenth
celebrations by family members
who were just one or two
generations removed from
enslavement.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-toast-with-strawberry--soda-what-my-southern-grandparents-
taught-me-about-juneteenth-traditions/ar-AAL4yoV?ocid=Bing

“Black Chefs Celebrate Freedom on Juneteenth at Dinner 1865” by Phyllis Armstrong
www.cuisinenoirmag.com/juneteenth-celebration-dinner-1865/

This Dance Troupe Wants to Celebrate the Freedom of All
m.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzo9oMA7wPs

Sounds like a Great Strawberry Pie
www.autostraddle.com/the-dyke-kitchen-strawberry-pie-for-repeat-juneteenth/

Why the 1619 Project has Republicans Banning ‘Critical Race Theory’: the Amber Ruffn Show
m.youtube.com/watch?vzoCya-XjjBsc

I’m sorry but Amber Ruffn is one of the funniest and most talented people working in comedy and
television today. I regularly watch her shows on Youtube. She explains ‘how we got here’ with a
crazy bit of outrage and humor that breaks it down and makes you laugh and cry a little. Here is her
take on why racist people are opposed to teaching the truth about slavery.