Approximately 200 folks gathered at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Alcoa Wednesday afternoon to celebrate Juneteenth.
Juneteenth, a play on the date June 19th, 1865, marks the day when the US Army arrived in Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, which had already been in effect for almost 2 ½ years and freed 250,000 enslaved people in Texas. It has a long history of celebration, dating back to the late 1800s, and it was made a federal holiday in 2021.
The celebration, hosted by the Alcoa-Blount County NAACP and the MLK Center, was the first of its kind for the community.
Alcoa Mayor Tanya Martin said that Juneteenth’s importance lies in knowledge — knowledge of history and utilizing that knowledge to help communities move forward.
“The more we come together, the more we learn. And the more we learn, the more we are aware,” Martin said.
Being the first event, Martin said she was unsure of how it would play out but was happy with the location of the celebration.
“Being in conjunction and doing this with the Martin Luther King Center has been great, because this center is like the hub of our community, so it makes the difference,” Martin said.
The event kicked off with the song, Lift Every Voice and Sing, which everyone in the packed room stood for. Lyrics were provided in the event’s program for anyone unfamiliar with the song.
Rev. Dr. Willa Estell spoke on the celebration’s theme, Jubilee Day: Their Wildest Dreams.
She asked the audience, “Where do we go from here? What can we do to make things better as a community?”
Martin and Gloria Miller engaged the audience with a short skit highlighting different Black inventors. Among those mentioned were George Speck, who invented the potato chip, Sarah Boone, who invented the ironing board and Alfred Cralle, who invented the ice cream scoop.
The speaker for the event, introduced by Stanley Young, was William Blount High School 2024 graduate Derek Williams, Jr.
Williams, who graduated in the top 3% of his class, was also the WBHS senior class representative and a member of the National Honor Society.
He will be attending the University of Miami to study kinesiology and plans to pursue a PhD after he graduates.
Williams has received a Martin Luther King scholarship from DENSO, a Darin C. Banks scholarship, and a Charles M. Hall Alumni scholarship, as well as scholarships from Alcoa-Blount County NAACP, Prudentia Lodge and Striders.
Before Williams began his speech, he was also awarded a scholarship check from Men in Christ.
Williams’ speech, which was met with a standing ovation, united themes of perseverance, history, honoring ancestry and technology.
“All the generations before us prayed ceaselessly for a better future — for our future. If we truly think about it, there is no better moment than now to take action, use our abilities and pursue that,” he told the crowd.
Williams seems to be practicing what he preaches. In addition to graduating in the top 3% of his class, he also participated on the track team all four years of high school and was an ambassador for the Chick-fil-A Leader Academy. He also volunteered to help set up snacks and treats for teachers and custodial staff at his school.
When asked how Williams’ balanced a heavy schedule while maintaining his grades, he said he just constantly tries to be a better version of himself, day-to-day.
Juneteenth is important to Williams because he says it serves as a reminder to honor the lives of ancestors and reminds people not to let their sacrifices be in vain.
“We need to know where we came from. We need to know what’s going on today and we need to know what we have to do to keep this progression moving forward,” Williams said.
Estell gave closing remarks of the celebration and a final blessing.
“It really is about oneness,” she said, “It really is about us wanting what’s best, not just for us but for our next-door neighbors, however they may come.”
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