(Seguin) – The city of Gonzales, known in history as the site for the first military engagement of the Texas Revolution, is hoping to start a new kind of revolution of its own this Friday – a “revolution of love, caring, and unity for everyone.” That’s according to Stacy Palm, the coordinator of this year’s Juneteenth celebration.
The Juneteenth holiday was first celebrated in Texas, where on June 19, 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, slaves were declared free under the terms of the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation. Also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day or the Black Fourth of July, the American holiday commemorates when Union Army General Gordon Granger’s reading of federal orders in Galveston proclaimed all enslaved persons in the United States were now free.
As a Caucasian woman, Palm says she went from not knowing the history of Juneteenth to leading this year’s community celebration in neighboring Gonzales. The Juneteenth celebration is being led by the community’s peaceful protestors and is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday in the city’s Confederate Memorial.
“This has been very inspiring to me because I had never heard of Juneteenth before and I will admit, I am not a history buff. I have not taken the time to learn more in depth knowledge about our history particularly Black American but now, that it is so pressing for us to know the information, to know the history, to understand where people’s perspective’s are coming from — I have done a little digging into this and I’ve been working with this group to understand what this means to them,” said Palm.
The divisiveness and tensions across the country have not made the planning of this year’s event easy. In fact, the group’s hosting of the event at the city’s Confederate Memorial has apparently caused a bit of disturbance for some.
Palm says her group of volunteers has received some “extreme backlash from an outside group making claims of a threat to the Confederate Memorial.” The square honors the soldiers killed while serving in Confederate Army during the Civil War. However, she confirms that with the full partnership of the Gonzales Police Department and the city of Gonzales, the Friday night celebration will be just that – a celebration. Prayers, speakers, singing and other inspirational activities will all be at the forefront with Palm’s group assuring everyone that no violence will be tolerated.”
“In the course of doing all of this organization, there was a completely separate – had nothing to do with our organization or this event in particular – but a poll was run on social media that asked a question about whether the confederate statute in Confederate Square Gonzales should be removed or left alone. There was quite a heated discussion. There was some good debate. There was some good facts. There were people who were adamantly for or against their side and then there were people who were actively discussing and debating this whole thing, why this was coming about and I thought a good conversation to have but that conversation was then taken as part of our event, tied to the statute because we were going to meet at Confederate Square and that is where it kind of blew up. But I want to reiterate that our event is nothing more about unity for the community. Everyone is invited, children, elderly,” said Palm.
As for the location, Palm says due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the group had no choice but to move the traditionally indoor event to the outside. She says the Confederate Memorial located in the heart of the city was just the typical, normal location to host such a large outside event.
“It was purely coincidental. This is a coincidental thing because it was a public location, easily acceptable, large enough for us to provide social distancing recommendations, large enough for us to have tables regarding voter registration and information booths and it really provided all of the tools we needed to pull this off safely,” said Palm.
Palm says she’s not blind to the reality that there is a deeply engrained tradition of racism within communities. She says that’s “been all too apparent from the moment this event was made public.” However, she is holding onto the hope that individuals more educated on the history of local Black Americans will come out to share their time and knowledge with Friday night’s crowd. In the end, she says the celebration is all about unity.
Confederate Square is located at the intersection of N. St. Joseph and St. George Streets just north of the Gonzales County Courthouse in Gonzales.