Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published June 25, 2003

Words have interesting stories to tell

Where do all the words come from? The dictionary can tell us about many of them, but when a new word comes along it takes some time before it is included. The music festival at Manchester was a recent example. It was named Bonnaroo, but how many people knew what that meant? It took the Tennessean's column "Brad About You" written by Brad Schmitt to come up with the answer.

According to Schmitt it was musician Dr. John out of New Orleans who had the explanation. Dr. John's real name is Mac Rebennack and in 1974 he released an album called Desitively Bonnaroo. And what does it mean? It is an old street expression which translated means "the very best." Thank you gentlemen for clearing up that unknown.

Another term that has worked its way into our language has a long history. Juneteenth began 138 years ago but didn't become well-known for many years. Last week, June 19 was remembered as a celebration of freedom. It all began in Galveston, TX when on June 19, 1865 a contingent of 1,800 blue-clad Union soldiers arrived in the port to oversee a state of martial law.

Both masters and slaves gathered to hear Gen. Gordon Granger read the military orders which stated there would be "absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves." The white masters had known about the Emancipation Proclamation from the time President Lincoln issued it on January 1, 1863. Not so the black slaves. They had not been told. As the words of Gen. Granger were absorbed jubilation broke out among the slaves who for the first time learned they were free.

Emotions exploded and written reports of the scene convey the disbelief followed by joy. Cries of "I'se free! I'se free!" filled the air. One mistress wrote of her slave, "She darted to her child and throwing her into the air, shrieked hysterically, 'Tamar, you are free! You are free, Tamar!'"

What happened next became known as "the Scatter." Many of the freed slaves left immediately in search of family members long-lost. Some headed north where they believed they would be accepted as free people. Frederick Douglass understood but was troubled. He knew the people were free but warned, "Free without roofs to cover them, or bread to eat, or land to cultivate."

Some in the government knew this to be true and an agency had been formed to establish a social structure for former slaves. Officially it was the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands but it was shortened to The Freedman's Bureau.

That period known as Reconstruction did little to hasten peace to a nation trying to heal. Many injustices added bitter memories. Few former slaves celebrated Juneteenth because of the backlash of that "Peculiar Institution" slavery.

In 1979, Juneteenth was made a state holiday in Texas and eventually a dozen more states passed or are considering legislation to make it a holiday. Some are working to make it a national holiday. Juneteenth is the oldest national celebration marking the end of slavery and serves to remind us that freedom is worth celebrating. The entire nation will be remembering that on our Independence Day, July 4.

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.