Walter Reed Bethesda Celebrates Juneteenth

Photo By Bernard Little | Navy Capt. Hasan Hobbs, a neuroradiologist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, said although Juneteenth is a time for reflection, it also provides an opportunity to “look forward with encouragement, motivation, inspiration and a sense of resiliency," Hobbs served as a keynote speaker during the inaugural Juneteenth celebration at WRNMMC on June 16.  

UNITED STATES

06.16.2022

Story by Bernard Little 

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center

The Walter Reed Bethesda community hosted its inaugural Juneteenth celebration June 16 in Memorial Auditorium. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) hosted the program.
Juneteenth, a federal holiday in the United States since June of last year, observes the emancipation of enslaved Africans. It’s observed on June 19 because on that day in 1865, when Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger announced General Order No. 3, which proclaimed the freedom for enslaved people in Texas, the last state of the Confederacy with institutional slavery. This happened more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863, which freed enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states.
Following Army Sgt. Charles Mills Jr.’s moving rendition of the national anthem, Navy Chaplain (Capt.) Herbert Griffin Jr., chief of Pastoral Care at WRNMMC, provided the opening prayer and benediction for the Juneteenth celebration at WRNMMC. He called Juneteenth “the late announcement of freedom heralded 157 years ago. For many people, this date represented the culmination of four centuries of prayer. To others, it proved to be a moment of thanksgiving and praise, for a great evil had been lifted, and grace and mercy abound. New and fresh beginnings were afoot, and an entire people rejoiced. The emancipation of the African slaves in the United States brought liberation to all who were, and are, citizens of this nation.”
“[Juneteenth] is considered the longest running African-American holiday,” added Senior Chief Petty Officer Ebonee Jarrell, senior enlisted leader for NMRTC Bethesda Headquarters. Although only a federal holiday since last year, on June 19, 1866, one year after Granger’s announcement, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of “Jubilee Day,” which evolved into Juneteenth celebrations. The June 19th celebration spread from Texas to communities in its neighboring states of Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Celebrations later appeared in Alabama, Florida and California as African-American Texans migrated to those states.
Jarrell added in these communities and now throughout the country, Juneteenth “represents victory over the institute of slavery and the beginning of the fulfillment of America’s promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for African Americans.” She said this year’s theme for Juneteenth, “Celebrating Juneteenth with the Sound of Freedom,” includes the question and statement, “Have you heard? It’s not the day freed; it’s the day we were told we’re free.”
“That is indeed, the sound of freedom,” Jarrell stated.
“We should all be proud to be here. African-American history is American history,” said Navy Capt. Steve Aboona, NMRTC commanding officer. He then quoted a former slave named Felix Haywood, who stated this about the first celebration of emancipation on June 19, 1865: “We was all walkin' on golden clouds…. everybody went wild… we was free. Just like that, we was free.”
“I challenge you all to recognize the African-American spirit and pay tribute to the roles and contributions on how they have enriched our lives and our military service,” Aboona said. “The United States is a large nation, and we have no room for hatred, bigotry or racism. Those things will only tear us apart,” he added.
Navy Lt. j.g. Jareese Shirlee then read the Emancipation Proclamation, and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class JoAnn Olusoga read General Order No. 3.
Senior Chief Petty Officer Mamadou Sambe explained he grew up learning about the history of slavery in school in his native Senegal, West Africa. “We learned how our African brothers and sisters were channeled through the ‘doors of no return’ into ships to the new world. While I was learning this, and throughout the years, I could not help but imagine how they must have felt leaving their families and countries behind with no hopes of ever seeing them again.
“I recognize that, even though I was born and raised in Africa, what our African ancestors went through afforded my parents the opportunity to come to America and enjoy the freedom that they forged and the privilege to serve this great country,” Sambe continued.
“I recently read an excerpt written by Kathy S. Robinson Turner that connected with me. It not only gave me motivation, but it helped me fill the void and connected the dots of my African perspective of slavery to the one of African Americans. She stated: “so you mean to tell me that someone down your ancestry line survived being chained to other human bodies for several months in the bottom of a disease-infested ship during the Middle Passage, lost their language, customs and traditions, picked up the English language as best they could while working free of charge from sun up to sun down as they watched babies sold from out of their arms and women raped by ruthless slave owners; took names with no last names, no birth certificates, no heritage of any kind; braved the Underground Railroad; survived the Civil War to enter into sharecropping; learned to read and write out of sheer will and determination; faced the burning crosses of the KKK; everted their eyes at the black bodies swinging from ropes hung on trees; fought world wars as soldiers only to return to America as boys; marched in Birmingham; hosed in Selma; jailed in Wilmington; assassinated in Memphis; segregated in the South; ghettoed in the North; ignored in history books; stereotyped in Hollywood. And in spite of it all, someone in your family line endured every era to make sure you would get here, but you receive one rejection, face one obstacle, lose one friend, get overlooked, and you want to quit?
“How dare you entertain the very thought of quitting. People you will never know survived from generation to generation so you could succeed. Don’t you dare let them down? It is not in our DNA to quit!”
Navy Capt. Hasan Hobbs, a neuroradiologist at WRNMMC, said although Juneteenth is a time for reflection, it also provides an opportunity to “look forward with encouragement, motivation, inspiration and a sense of resiliency.” He added following the issuance of General Order No. 3, more African Americans were afforded opportunities previously not available to them. He explained participation in military service by African Americans increased, and they performed heroically. He also shared a story of chance meeting with the late Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, a highly-decorated Tuskegee Airman while both were getting gas at the service station on base, and described it as very inspiring.
“So when I reflect on Juneteenth, I think about encouragement, inspiration and opportunity. The opportunity afforded to people of color that resulted in significant contributions in the history of military service,” Hobbs said. He added the contributions of African Americans are “pieces to the greater whole that makes us all better. With that in mind, Juneteenth takes on a new meaning of not just an African-American holiday, but an American holiday,” he concluded.
Following the program, covered meals featuring African dishes were given to those who attended the event.

• Date Taken: 06.16.2022
• Date Posted: 06.21.2022 12:41
• Story ID: 423434
• Location: US