June has always been a central month of celebration for my family. We gather outdoors for food and fun to celebrate Father’s Day, graduations, and long weekends. But Juneteenth was not part of that tradition. I didn’t grow up celebrating Juneteenth. I knew about it from one of my cousins, but it was mostly in the context of skipping work as a quiet little protest. Twenty years later, my daughter woke me up from my complacency. Drawn to the story of Juneteenth and its rich history, she adds sugar to strawberries to make a homemade strawberry soda every year, her own take on the traditional Juneteenth red drink served at the celebration.
My amazing child dreams of making a menu and inviting people over, reminiscing about our history, and digging into the meaning of Juneteenth, so this year I’m going to help her plan and host a fun Juneteenth celebration.
Juneteenth dates back to 1865, but it only became a federal holiday three years ago, 160 years after the last slave in Texas was finally freed. The Emancipation Proclamation, which deemed all people held as slaves in the Confederate States legally free, went into effect on January 1, 1863. This was two years before the Civil War ended, and the law was not fully implemented until after the war. On June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced that over 250,000 enslaved African Americans in Texas were freed. The date became known as Juneteenth, and in 1979 it became a Texas state holiday. Juneteenth celebrations, which range from parades to barbecues, festivals, prayers and church services, and cultural activities at museums, have become more popular since then, especially since it became a federal holiday in 2021.
Alaia L. Agostini grew up celebrating Juneteenth in Buffalo, N.Y. Her grandfather, Judson Price, was instrumental in establishing Buffalo’s Juneteenth Festival to coincide with America’s Bicentennial in 1976. His desire was to acknowledge that the first Independence Day did not bring freedom and independence to Black Americans.
Agostini has written two books about the holiday for young people. of Juneteenth Story and Juneteenth Cookbook (The latter includes recipes from chef Taffy Elrod.) Her book suggests activities for celebrating with your family, like a road trip to cities that have big Juneteenth celebrations (such as Pasco, Washington’s, which has been going since 1978, and the three-day Memphis Juneteenth Festival, which began in 1913). It also offers ideas for hosting a celebration at home, including craft projects and music playlists. Agostini collaborated with Elrod to suggest a menu for an at-home barbecue: “When I came up with Juneteenth, Juneteenth Cookbook “Before we even had a brief, we decided it would be very similar to a barbecue experience and would include foods that are well known in barbecue culture that have historical significance to the Juneteenth celebration and African-American culture in general,” she says.
Foods served on Juneteenth are rich in symbolic meaning and have a rich history with the African-American community. Ingredients like okra, black-eyed peas, and sesame seeds originate from West Africa, where most of the ancestors of enslaved Black people came from. Other dishes, like collards braised with smoked pork, are closely linked to African food culture in America. Red-colored ingredients like strawberries, watermelon, and hibiscus play an important role on the Juneteenth table. The color is thought to signify the struggle, strength, and sacrifices endured by enslaved African-Americans. Chef Taffy Elrod offers recipes like a fresh kale salad drizzled with bright red strawberries and balsamic dressing to represent the colors of the Pan-African flag, and red velvet ice cream sandwiches made with no-churn ice cream so kids can help easily. “I was excited to create some really tasty celebratory food,” Elrod says of the recipes she created for the book. She calls the compilation of drinks, appetizers, entrees, and side dishes (based on her and Agostini’s family traditions) the ultimate barbecue menu.
This year, my daughter and I will be celebrating Juneteenth a little differently. Her strawberry red drink is always on the menu, a cornerstone of our personal history celebrating this holiday, and we will be creating a full lineup of dishes to share with friends who will be celebrating the big day with us. I will be making pulled pork in the slow cooker and serving it slider-style, just like Elrod and Agostini did their pulled chicken in their book. Potato salad will be on the table because my mother taught me her secrets, just like Agostini’s grandmother did for her mother (drizzling vinegar on potatoes while they’re hot was one of her secrets). We will be recreating my grandmother’s peach cobbler, garnished with fresh sweet cherries to add some red to the table. Create a Juneteenth-inspired playlist that you both enjoy (not an easy thing to do!), prepare some delicious food together to decorate the table, and create a new celebration for your family that builds on traditions.
