WALKING TOGETHER

Unity Walk captures meaning of Juneteenth

City streets here gave way to area residents Saturday as many came out to participate in a Unity Walk. The walk was scheduled in conjunction with Juneteenth, a major Texas and federal holiday that closed city and county offices Monday.

Juneteenth traces its origins to the Gulf Coast and the city of Galveston, where on June 19, 1865, Major Gen. Gordon Granger issued an order that declared the enslaved people of Texas to be free. His order came approximately two and a half years after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Walk participants began arriving at 8:30 a.m. in anticipation of the event that kicked off at 9 a.m. at the corner of MLK Drive and South LBJ Drive, and continued through the city’s Historic District. Walkers gathered at the end at the Willie Mae Mitchell Community Opportunity Center where the annual Juneteenth Cook-Off BBQ was already underway, having begun on Friday with a wide array of barbecue treats–from brisket to chicken to pork chops.

Greater Bethel Baptist Church Pastor Derrick Benn who was one of the participants discussed the history of Juneteenth and the purpose of the walk.

“As incredible as the Declaration of Independence was, and is, it did not give life, liberty, freedom and justice to all … but it did set the ground- work and much work has been done,” Benn said. “It's not about individuals. It's about bringing together folks so they can have real conversations and become acquainted.”

Benn encouraged people to do the walk with someone that they do not know in order to grow stronger as a community. “What’s on display for the city is love. Somebody may recognize that love is still the answer. Why is love still the answer? Because if you love me, you won’t shoot me. If you love me, we don’t have to fight over silly things, and the hope is that as we walk, you can feel, know and experience the love that is San Marcos,” Benn said.

Benn said that the crowd present for the walk was a prime example of unity.

“This morning the intent is to make a statement. For anybody who wants to know what unity looks like– take a picture. Look around. This is it,” he said.

Hays County Constable- Pct.1 and Juneteenth Foundation founder David Peterson said the walk is significant for this community.

“The Unity Walk is important because it gathers all of our people together– as many as possible,” Peterson said. “Plus, it brings education to our children … [about what] some of the mentors have done– the people who helped that unity walk be a unity walk.”

As in years past, Peterson was responsible for coordinating the various Juneteenth events. “The BBQ cook-off is a charity. Our money is actually going to anybody that’s in need [and] also to scholarships. We want you to feel free this whole month, this whole year. It’s all about you. Not only Juneteenth, but who you are and what you do, and we thank you for it,” Peterson said.

Peterson said that Juneteenth BBQs of the past involved cooking food in pits dug into the ground.

“In the early 1900s, they used to take a cow and they would put it in a big drum barrel and cook it,” Peterson said.

Peterson said his father, Elmus Peterson, taught him these traditional ways during his youth. “I started out at six years old learning from my Dad how to cook BBQ in the ground,” Petserson said. “They dug a hole. They put wood in the ground, and they put tin down there, and they wrapped their meat into some type of foil– something that would keep the heat in.”

Peterson said he started the San Marcos Juneteenth events in 1994, and, at that time, there were only five cooks.

“It has grown to 30–at one time we were up to 69 cooks,” Peterson said.

Peterson pointed out that the walk takes participants past many local historical sites.

“As you’re walking down Martin Luther King, which has one of the oldest histories of San Marcos, look at some of the buildings … We’ve got the First Baptist Church … We’ve got the Calaboose [African American History Museum]. We’ve got Dunbar School–I went there, integrated from there, so this history is about all of us– not just one or two, but each and every one of us,” Peterson said. “Have a good Freedom Day. Have a good Freedom Month.”

Mary Peterson Earls, the first African American president of the local League of Women Voters, said that having a presence at the Unity Walk matters.

“It's a reflection of who we are in this community,” Earls said.

She said she was also disappointed that members of the San Marcos City Council did not attend the event.

“I don’t see city leadership here. They should be here. They should send a message. They should set the precedent. We’re a reflection of what we see our leadership do,” she said.

The San Marcos Police Department saw two of their own in attendance. SMPD Comm. Lee Leonard and Cpl. Duwayne Poorboy both were in attendance.

“We need to be working with our communities. As police officers, it’s very, very important that we do exactly that. Just like the pastor said this morning, representing where we’re similar is just as important as the differences. The more you talk to people, the more you get to know people, [and] my experience has been, the more you have things in common versus otherwise,” Poorboy said.

Leonard said that they participate annually and would even be making free food prepared by officers available for Juneteenth patrons after the walk.

“I would also like to point out that a lot of the problems that are happening across the country are not happening here, and the reason that they’re not happening here is because we do this work together. We do come together, and we come together on every major issue throughout the history of my time here at the police department, so we want to make sure that we continue that. We’re out here every year. We’ll be cooking at the Dunbar Center after this, making free sausage wraps for everybody,” Leonard said.

Chardaney Beard and Kamiyah King shared their thoughts about the importance of being involved in the Unity Walk.

“It's a representation of the Juneteenth parade. This is something we’ve been a part of for years now,” Beard said.

They both said that the community could benefit from more events like this one.