‘I give praise to my ancestors’: Camden’s Juneteenth is grounded in spirituality
On Sunday, a group of men and women in Camden held a libation ceremony in front of a historical marker honoring the “Enslaved Africans Once Sold Here.”
Brother Ransom pours libation during a Juneteenth ceremony in Camden on Sunday, June 18, 2023.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
With the pulsing beat of a djembe hand drum filling the air, a group of Black men and women in Camden gathered on Sunday afternoon ahead of their Juneteenth festivities to honor their enslaved ancestors and connect with their spirits.
They met in front of the sign at Front and Cooper Streets that read in gold letters, “Enslaved Africans Once Sold Here,” one of the city’s historical markers of its enslavement auction blocks. It’s a reminder that the brutal inhumanity of the slave trade was not limited to Southern states.
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“I give praise,” a North Philadelphia man called Brother Ransom repeated over and over in his ceremonial prayer.
“I give praise to my ancestors, whose blood runs through my veins, yet their names are not known,” he said, recognizing the African people bought and sold to enslavers in not just America, but the Caribbean, South America, and around the world.
The men and women, all dressed in white or Pan-African colors, watched as Ransom finished his opening prayer and lifted a jug of water above his head. He poured some of it into the grass, representing an offering to the spirits of the enslaved who had journeyed to this spot to witness Camden’s small tribute to them.
“When you know your history, you can make an argument for justice,” said R. Mangaliso Davis, founder of the Camden African American Commission and a lifelong community activist.
During the ceremony, he stood next to Ransom and softly struck a metal bowl, layering a rhythmic chime over the drum beat.
Alanna Bynes, 10, and her mom Alicia Jeremiah, of West Philly, wave flags and watch the Philadelphia Juneteenth ParadeRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
People watch the Philadelphia Juneteenth Parade. The first Philadelphia Juneteenth Parade and Festival was held in 2016. Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
A parade participant rides down 52nd Street with a parasol. Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. In 2021 President Joe Biden named Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19, a federal holiday.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Victorious Jaesettes dancers walk down 52nd StreetRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Poet and Parade Grand Marshal Sonia Sanchez waves to the crowdRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Black Hawks cheerleaders wait on 52nd StreetRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
People march down 52nd StreetRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Parade participants wave to the crowd from a trolleyRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Milan Hogue, 5, poses for a portraitRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
People watch the Philadelphia Juneteenth Parade travel down 52nd StreetRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Miss Juneteenth of Pennsylvania Anna Bullock ,18, poses for photos in Malcolm X Park during the Philadelphia Juneteenth FestivalRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Ernie Richards stands with Sunshine the horse during the Philadelphia Juneteenth Festival at Malcolm X ParkRead moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Brother Ransom (left) and R. Mangaliso Davis (right), preside during a Juneteenth libation and ceremony at the Slave Marker at Front and Cooper Streets in Camden on Sunday. The marker honoring the victims of slave trade is located several blocks from the city’s current waterfront. But centuries ago, the Delaware River ran past the site and regularly brought ships carrying human cargo.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
The ceremony at the Slave Marker in Camden Sunday, is a special one for this group, as they first observed the holiday 21 years ago.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Brother Ransom pours libation during a Juneteenth ceremony at the Slave Marker at Front and Cooper Streets in Camden on Sunday. New Jersey had more than 12,000 slaves in 1800, and approved gradual abolition in 1804. But the state only banned slavery with ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1866.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Tayyab Rasheed lays down the beat with a djembe African drum, during a Juneteenth libation and ceremony at the Slave Marker at Front and Cooper Streets in Camden on SundayRead moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Diverse Conscious of Parkside, known as “Moses,” to those who see him walking all over the city with his walking stick, stops for his children to play with drummers while celebrating Fathers Day during the Camden Juneteenth Weekend Celebration at Farnham Park on Sunday. His kids (from left) are Nandi, 5; Infinite, 8; Oma, 10; and Supremaa, 11. Conscious, a single dad, has a fifth child, Supreme, 13, who was helping a friend at his vendor’s booth. Conscious was gifted the stick by the wife of his mentor, after he passed away. The Juneteenth event featured live entertainment, vendors, and food.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Twenty-one years ago, Davis organized the city’s first Juneteenth celebration. He remembers passing out index cards to small businesses and kids that briefly explained how Juneteenth celebrates the end of enslavement in the United States, by marking the day when the Union army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation in 1865.
Juneteenth’s profile has grown substantially since Davis brought the celebration to the city. Seeing it recognized as a federal holiday in 2021 and watching nearby cities and suburban towns grow their own Juneteenth celebrations has made him happy.
“I feel good that a lot of people are getting [it], doing it, expanding on it,” he said.
New Jersey alone had more than 12,000 enslaved people by 1800, and Camden served as the waypoint for traffickers along the Delaware River. The state agreed to gradual abolition by 1804, the last of the Northern states to begin that process, but enslavement was not officially banned until the state ratified the 13th Amendment in 1866.
After the libation ceremony in Camden finished, Davis packed up his things. He was heading over to Farnham Park, where Camden’s Juneteenth would soon begin its daylong festivities with music, food, and celebration. They planned to do another libation ceremony there, too, so more adults and children could join in their tribute.
“These people were citizens, they weren’t slaves. They were forced into slavery,” he said.
