In a panel discussion Saturday about Juneteenth, Orange County’s first family took the stage to discuss the importance of the newly anointed federal holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved Africans in the U.S.
There, U.S. House Rep. Val Demings (D), joined by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings reminded online viewers and the in-person audience that gathered at Bronze Kingdom in Orlando that making Juneteenth an official holiday isn’t nearly enough to “be totally free from the injustices of this nation.”
“Freedom has to be about more than a holiday. … Not one Black person’s life became better because June 19 became a national holiday,” said Demings, who recently announced her run for Senate against Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. “So our work as members of Congress is to make sure that we’re working every day to hold America to its promise. And being free from physical bondage is one thing, but we also have to be free from poverty and we have to be free from injustice.”
Saturday’s event, moderated by Orlando Magic Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer Esu Ma’at, comes as areas around Central Florida and the rest of the country celebrate Juneteenth, including at the George Barber Park farmer’s market, which held a themed event featuring a double Dutch competition and a performance by The Young Blacks In Action Community Band and Dancettes Inc.
Known historically as Jubilee Day, it marks the moment in 1865 when slaves in Texas were informed they were freed through the Emancipation Proclamation.
Texas was the last former Confederate state to continue the practice of chattel slavery until that day. Slaves in Delaware and Kentucky, two Union border states, were officially freed following the ratification of the 13th Amendment in December 1865.
President Joe Biden signed into law the designation of Juneteenth as a federal holiday on Thursday, a law which passed unanimously in the Senate while 14 members of Congress, all Republicans, voted against it.
“My grandmother’s parents were born so close to 1865 — they were born free, but their parents were enslaved,” Jerry Demings said. ” … Every day that I go to work on behalf of the people of Orange County trying to level the playing field, I remember the stories of the injustices that my parents and grandparents endured. So today has a different significance to me.”
Jerry Demings, who was Orange County’s first Black sheriff before he became its first Black mayor added, “At 62 years old, having been the first, I just look forward to the day where we no longer talk about, ‘I’m the first this or the first that.'”
Earlier that afternoon, Ma’at also spoke with philanthropist and entrepreneur Nadine Mentor Williams, who spoke about how she mentors and teaches young people of color, especially young girls, to build wealth.
She recalled how her mother, who worked three jobs, would hide her four children in the laundry room of a hotel where she worked because she couldn’t hire a baby sitter, something that impacted her as a child and led her to begin investing in hotels four years ago.
“And now, when we walk into hotels, I’m like, ‘I’m the owner. My mom deserves to be at the best rooms and have access,'” Mentor Williams said. “So let’s change that mentality.”
She added, “The battle is real. … It’s important for us to show our young people not just the beauty, not just the end result, but they have to understand the journey.”
creyes-rios@orlandosentinel.com
