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Posted January 13, 2017 06:16 pm - Updated January 13, 2017 06:25 pm
By Times-Union editorial board (/times-union-editorial-board)
Cheers: Emancipation Proclamation ceremony is a
proud Jacksonville tradition
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Mike Clark/Florida Times-Union: George Pratt, 15, a 10th grader at Paxon School for Advanced Studies,
portrayed President Abraham Lincoln at the annual Lincoln-Douglass Memorial Emancipation
Proclamation Association Celebration held Jan. 2 at the lee Cousins Milne Auditorium at Edward Waters
College. Bishop Teresa Snorton of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church of Mobile, Ala., delivered
the keynote speech.
An annual ceremony celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation has a proud local history.
To say the program is unique is no exaggeration.
The ceremony itself is an incredible combination of worship service, history lesson, recital
and award ceremony for both seniors and youth.
It was founded by Jacksonville historical icon Eartha M.M. White, and it was carried forward
by James Genwright Sr., Joseph Johnson and Gayle Kendall (all deceased).
Now Odell Smith, president, and the Rev. David Williams, vice president, are heading the
association with help from a terri䩷�c sta똷 and volunteers.
Previous ceremonies were held at African-American churches, but this year’s ceremony
was held at the Lee Cousins Milne Auditorium at Edward Waters College, a perfectly
appropriate site given the college’s history and its religious origins, having been founded by
the AME church.
The words of frederick douglass still resonate
The story of the Emancipation Proclamation still resonates, especially for those whose
ancestors were freed.
As one speaker mentioned, it altered the course and the reason for the Civil War from
saving the Union to a moral 䩷�ght for freedom.
The abolitionist and author Frederick Douglass was quoted: “If there is no struggle, there is
no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men
who want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and
lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may
be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it
must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never
will.”
Edward Waters President Nat Glover noted that the Emancipation Proclamation was an
executive order and noted that a leader must “have courage to do the right thing.”
As Glover noted, it once was a crime to educate slaves, and he put that fact into the context
that Edward Waters College was founded in 1866.
It was signi䩷�cant that Sheri똷 Mike Williams attended the entire ceremony on a holiday. He
presented an award to the organization.
That sort of “walking the walk” is often missing among elected oᣈ�cials.
EAch generation must step up
The special guest speaker, Bishop Teresa Snorton of the Christian Methodist Episcopal
Church, had the listeners enthralled.
Each generation has an obligation to carry on the hard work of 䩷�ghting for justice, she said.
“Today we are called to take it from here,” she said.
Jesus preached to the poor, Snorton said. But today, she added, there are all kinds of poor
people — including those who are poor in spirit because they feel locked up, left out and
pushed aside.
Snorton went on to note that we are living amid rampant violence, disastrous levels of drug
addiction, broken hearts and ruined lives — and that we risk becoming captives to poverty,
mental illness and injustice.
And that’s exactly why we can’t avoid our responsibility to keep 䩷�ghting, pushing and
working for a better today and tomorrow, Snorton said.
Said Snorton: “We cannot tell the next generation to take it from here if we have not taken
it ourselves.”
The Emancipation Proclamation Ceremony touches past and present, young and old.
local honorees
Some of those honored at the ceremony held Jan. 2:
• Sollie Mitchell won the Eartha M.M. White Service Award. Mitchell is a World War II
veteran, former oᣈ�cial of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and honoree of the
National Black Railroad Historical Society.
• Arnett Girardeau Sr. won the James Genwright Humanitarian Award. He was the 䩷�rst
African-American elected outside of Miami since Reconstruction. He served in the Florida
House and Senate and was president pro tempore.
• Jessica Brock won the Gayle Kendall Outstanding Youth Leadership Award. She is a junior
at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts. She has been an active volunteer.
• Miara Parker won the Joseph Johnson Outstanding Youth Service Award. She is a
sophomore at Sandalwood High School where she is a member of the a capella group and
the track team. She has been an active volunteer.
• Appearing in the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation were George Pratt, 15, of
Paxon School for Advanced Studies as President Abraham Lincoln; Samuel Ross, 13, of
Cedar Hills Christian School as Frederick Douglass; and Nicole Hogg of Florida State College
at Jacksonville as Sojourner Truth.
In the long and notable history of this event, this year’s program should serve as a
template.
Several di똷erent members of the clergy spoke and each one was considerate of the time —
a sacri䩷�ce, to be sure.
The only thing missing is more people attending it.
Our congratulations to the participants, the honorees, the speakers and the organizers.
Let’s all take it from here.
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