ABOVE PHOTO: the 6300 block of Germantown Ave. was bursting with activity last weekend, as families had fun taking in the music, dancing, food and history of the 17th Annual Juneteenth Festival sponsored by the Johnson House Historic Site. A beautiful new 1,100 square-foot-mural commemorating Juneteenth was unveiled by visual artist Keisha Whatley of Custom Arts Studio. (Photos by Tieshka K Smith for Johnson House Historic Site)
By Constance Garcia-Barrio
Humming singing bowls, tinkling chimes, and an ocean drum that made the sound of surf blended to form a sound bath that may have helped guests prepare for the complexities of the day at the 17th Annual Juneteenth Festival, sponsored by the Johnson House Historic Site, located at 6306 Germantown Avenue.
Jacqui Johnson, a licensed professional counselor and board-certified art therapist with Sankofa Healing Studio, located at 1415 N. Broad Street, provided the sound bath—new to the Juneteenth celebration—on the lawn of the Johnson House. Sankofa specializes in therapy for the Black community. “Sound baths [which surround listeners with sounds that can help balance body and spirit] can be restorative, transformative,” Johnson said. “It can allow people to be present to both the joy of freedom and the continuing struggle, to be present to navigate the multiple layers of the day.”
VanJessica Gladney, a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Pennsylvania, concurs about mixed emotions that may arise about the celebration. Juneteenth took place on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom for the enslaved people of Galveston, Texas, months are the Civil War had ended.
“It’s hard to make Juneteenth a holiday,” Gladney said in a lecture. “It’s a complicated day. It’s a day of frustration and celebration and a reminder of how much we have left to do.”
Despite the possibility of potentially mixed feelings, the celebratory note seemed to prevail at the Johnson House last Saturday. Built in 1768, the house, a National Historic Landmark, weathered the Revolutionary War with a few bullet marks and, later, became a key station on the Underground Railroad.
“The Johnson House belongs to the National Park Service Network to Freedom Trail,” said Cornelia Swinson, the site’s executive director. “It’s a certified Underground Railroad stop.” Some freedom seekers are said to have followed the Wissahickon Creek to the stone house on Washington Lane, which had a thriving tannery on the property. According to family lore, the Johnsons, — stalwart Quakers — sometimes hid fugitives guided to their home by Harriet Tubman.
“Joy is embedded in the Juneteenth Festival,” Swinson said. “It’s an opportunity to bring together people living and working in diverse and sometimes-divided environments into a neutral space.”
Besides the Juneteenth Festival, the Johnson House hosts year-round events.
“History Hunters, for fourth and fifth graders, has a curriculum approved by the state of Pennsylvania to meet the history requirement,” Swinson said.
Quilt-making workshops often take place during Women’s History Month. The house also partners with the other 18 sites of Historic Germantown Preserved.
“This summer, a literacy program will meet here in cooperation with Mt. Airy Community Development Corporation,” Swinson said.
In 2015, in keeping with its long history of community involvement, Johnson House began planning its Center for Social Advocacy (CSA). Today, the CSA helps to address urgent issues in the community.
Saturday’s festival, which stretched along Germantown Avenue from Washington Lane to Johnson Street, brimmed with sensual delights. The aroma of roasting chicken, pork, and beef from a taco truck wafted over the crowd. A tang of spices came from Jamaica Dee’s food truck whose menu includes curry chicken. Dre’s homemade water ice added pops of color with a crimson berry flavor and golden banana pudding ice cream. A vendor of essential oils had concoctions whose name alone — never mind the scent — piqued curiosity: “Jingle Bells,” Jasmine,” and “Sex on the Beach.”
At another stand, a jewelry designer, perhaps with history in mind, had worked cowrie shells — used as money on West Africa’s coast as early as the 14th century, historians say — into attractive necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and earrings.
“I grew up in the Gullah culture and I’ve lived in Africa,” said an elegant woman who looked 60-something in a pale-yellow caftan. “I was raised knowing my roots. They have genuine items for sale here.”
A middle-aged man enthused over the food and fashions.
“I was here last year and bought clothes,” he said, glancing toward a booth with bold West African prints. “I’m back for more clothes this year, and I’ll buy a taco platter in a little while.”
Meanwhile, standing near the main stage you could feel the beat of the music through the soles of your feet.
“Neither one of us wants to be the first to say goodbye,” the singer crooned, while guests sat at tables listening, chatting, and eating. Then a van from Tree House Books, a North Philadelphia giving library and literacy center, pulled up with loads of free books for children.
Not far down the street, 14-year-old entrepreneur Brandyn Ross, who’s pitched his booth at the festival in previous years, had a table with tee shirts and bracelets that said, “Studying never stops” in a range of colors.
“You don’t just learn in school,” Ross said. “You learn something every day, anywhere, if your mind’s open.”
Nearby, a first-time vendor from New York featured Native American items, including dream catchers, bracelets to ward off the evil eye, and images of Kokopelli, a humpbacked flute player revered by some southwestern Native tribes as a fertility deity. Blazing red tee-shirts showed Native leaders like Geronimo and Sitting Bull printed in black and white. “Fighting terrorism since 1492,” the logo beneath them said.
The festival circled back to bedrock concerns like estate planning to preserve wealth in Black and Brown communities. Tracey Gordon, register of wills for Philadelphia, led a panel on making wills.
The celebration’s defining moment came with the unveiling of a 1,100 square-foot-mural commemorating Juneteenth, the city’s first. Designed by visual artist Keisha Whatley of Custom Arts Studio, the mural covers a wall in the 6200 block of Germantown Avenue.
“I wanted the mural to show the Middle Passage, to show the whole experience,” Whatley said. “Above all, I wanted to capture the moment when the enslaved people realized they were free.”
For more information about programs, events and activities at Johnson House, visit: www.johnsonhouse.org.
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