A Juneteenth Story and Celebration

Founded in 1872, Emancipation Park was the first park established in Houston by four formerly enslaved African Americans. One hundred and fifty years later, it continues to stand as a testament to the power of community, hope for a better future and a commitment to honor their legacies. This land is so much more than just a public park. For decades, it’s been a space for Juneteenth celebrations, where Houston’s multi-generational Third Ward community can gather and celebrate the oldest commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States.

With the founding of Emancipation Park Conservancy, these men showed that they now had the power to own property themselves, a powerful 180-degree turn from their past enslavement towards personhood. As the first site of celebration for Juneteenth, EPC not only holds a deep value for Houston’s Greater Third Ward — preserving a piece of Black history that’s often omitted from textbooks and history courses — but also sets itself apart as an activist for beautiful, radical social change. Through partnerships with everyone from non-profits and community leaders to schools and governmental entities, the Emancipation Park Conservancy has been a place for support and collaboration across Houston for literal centuries.

Today, the Emancipation Park Conservancy works to honor their predecessors year-round, through programs ranging from economic empowerment to STEM, coding, and robotics. Jacqueline Yates, Board Vice Chair of the EPC and great-granddaughter of Reverend John Henry Jack Yates, has fought to keep her family’s legacy alive and remembered for years. This park is a sacred prayer to the millions of formerly enslaved Black Americans who finally had the opportunity to build their futures. It’s time to share their stories.

At its core, the Emancipation Park Conservancy was founded as a safe space for Black folks to gather, share burdens and rejoice in their successes together. Juneteenth is not just another day off of work or a trendy movement to capitalize on. What it is is a day to honor the legacies of Black Americans, pledge to continue learning from and centering Black voices, and ask yourself how you can act right now, and during your entire life, to preserve Black history and address the systemic racial bias present in every facet of our lives. EPC has been a leader for preserving the history of Black Houstonians in a way that can’t be ignored. Keep reading to learn more and find out how you can support their crucial mission.

The Black Sheep Agency: For those who don’t know—paint a picture of Emancipation Park Conservancy in Houston, Texas. Tell us about the history and give us an imaginary tour of what it’s like to step into the park space.

Emancipation Park Conservancy: Located in the heart of the historic Third Ward community, Emancipation Park was the first park established in the city of Houston. Founded in 1872, four formerly enslaved African Americans, led by Reverend John Henry Jack Yates, Richard Brock, Richard Allen, and Reverend David Elias Dibble, encouraged their families, friends, and neighbors from the Third and Fourth Wards to come together, combine their resources, and purchase 10 acres of park land as a safe space where they could freely host Juneteenth Celebrations. This was significant, not only as a ritual of remembrance and celebration, but also as an early act of exercising the new right of property ownership.

For nearly 150 years, this sacred ground has been respected and honored. It is the oldest public park in Houston.   The Emancipation Park is a monument to the pride and hope of the founding members. For the founding fathers and the community, it represented land ownership to a community of recently emancipated people, it represented a place to call their own for celebrations and reverence to those that did not live to see freedom.  It is a place where storytellers can tell the stories of ancestors not represented in the history books.  It is a place where authentic African music and dance can be performed unabated.  After they found out they were free, they began to help each other, to teach each other, to support each other; to read, to write, to learn trades and to reconnect families.  Their tenacity and resilience mirror this year’s theme of “Freedom and Justice”. 

The Emancipation Park is a place of community where we live, love, and laugh about life, while passing on the baton of resilience to the next generation ensuring the perpetuity of why it was established.

BSA: Who are the people and team behind what keeps things moving at EPC?

EPC: Lead by a visionary Board of Directors, Emancipation Park Conservancy (EPC) is staffed with a mix of seasoned professionals and energetic, talented young people that have a heart for the community.  The Executive Director wears countless community engagement hats and has extensive service years in the for profit and not for profit world that she uses to fuel collaborative change in communities. The

Board of Directors, the Executive Director and the staff have a deep appreciation for the purpose and mission of the park. 

BSA: How has EPC been able to educate and advocate for the Greater Third Ward, as well as Houston’s historically Black communities?

EPC: Emancipation Park Conservancy is the “center of the community” supported by community partnerships with other non-profits and community leaders, faith-based organizations, public and charter schools, institutes of higher education, sorority/fraternal organizations, entrepreneurs, and government entities. We support each other during the sunshine and the rain. This was exemplified with the campaigns to save the Blue Triangle after the hurricane Harvey and rallying the troops for Texas Southern University when they faced challenges.  The City of Houston is a great collaborator for city-wide support of our programs and special events. 

BSA: Let’s talk Juneteenth. How critical is it for us to recognize this holiday, as a nation, but most especially in the Houston community?

EPC: Juneteenth was born in Texas. This worldwide celebration of African American freedom and achievement began right here in Houston’s Emancipation Park. The site of the first joyful Juneteenth Celebration in 1872, the rich tradition of Juneteenth has been honored and celebrated in Emancipation Park every year. Today, Juneteenth is enjoying phenomenal growth and is known far and wide.

The delay of the Emancipation Proclamation had a profound effect of the communities in Texas, as freed slaves were still planting the fall harvest without compensation for the benefit of their owners.  The Juneteenth celebrations were not just symbolic of freedom, but also the beginning of the hope and dreams of a better way of life for families and the community.  Because the enslaved were separated by owners from the shores of Virginia and South Carolina to Texas, Juneteenth is symbolic of when all enslaved persons had the opportunity to reconnect with their families and begin to build a future.

Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, is the oldest celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. In 1980, once again Texas blazed the trail through the efforts of the late Honorable Al Edwards, State Legislator, to become the first state to grant recognition of Juneteenth as an official state holiday. Emancipation Park has been a stabilizing force for this event that has grown to be known, loved, honored, and celebrated. People from all over the world have learned to appreciate and celebrate Juneteenth with the Emancipation Park Conservancy because we are, in fact, Juneteenth.

BSA: Tell us a bit about EPC’s annual Juneteenth efforts and programming. What’s up next this month that we can look out for?

EPC: Everything EPC does keeps the historical perspective.  Emancipation Park is different than any other park because it was started by a group to show property ownership to people that were previously considered property.  It becomes a hallowed place to educate, motivate, celebrate, and support families.  The EPC programming will continue to address the ills and desires of the community with programs that include economic empowerment, health and wellness focus, next generation STEM, coding, and robotics.  It is a place where we can teach life skills for survival in a way that only we can understand through a shared experience of oppression and systematic racism.  It also helps to plant the seeds of hope, offers a community of support and a place of celebration for accomplishments. 

The City of Houston pandemic protocols have curtailed the live in person events, but being the resilient people we are, we will host virtual events that will bring the world to the EPC to celebrate our past, honor our present, and introduce our future.

BSA: We know that a goal of EPC is to transform the park into one of the nation’s premier landmark parks and destinations. How can Houstonians and folks invested in preserving Black historical sites help you reach this goal?

EPC: There are many people in Houston that do not know about Juneteenth or Emancipation Park outside of the 3rd and 4th Ward communities.  So much of African American history has been omitted from the history books, it is time to share the store. Individuals should read about the park, read about Juneteenth, tell the story, and support the efforts to preserve the legacy of the park with donations and attendance.

This is the people’s park. We listen to the voice of the community to ensure that we are meeting their needs.  We survey all demographic groups to ensure we address the immediate needs of our senior community and the long-term needs of our youth.  While we will continue to offer signature events like Juneteenth and Holiday in the Tre’, we will offer stabilizing programs and events that will keep the community engaged and connected.

As we prepare for the 150-year celebration, we will plan renovations and construction projects around major events to minimize disruption of our 150 year celebration which begins July 1, 2021 and ends June 19, 2022.

BSA: Apart from your official team, is there a communal effort in Third Ward that keeps Emancipation Park running? Tell us about what that looks like! Who else should folks in Houston know and do their homework about?

EPC: Collaborative efforts with City of Houston, Congressional leaders Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, faith based organizations, and community leaders keep the focus on fund raising, corporate partnerships, and government relations.  The Park has always supported the best and brightest from the community, so the legacy of people like Beyonce Knowles, Zina Garrison, Felicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, Joe Sample, the 5th Ward Boys, Jason Moran and Robert Glasper may have begun with an idea that “I can do that too” inspired by the EPC’s programming. Board member and historian, Jacqueline Bostic is someone that people should research because she is the great-granddaughter of Reverend John Henry Jack Yates, who is one of the founders of Emancipation Park.  She is the board Vice Chair of the Emancipation Park Conservancy, and it is her lifelong mission to keep her great grandfather’s legacy alive.

BSA: Where can we find you? And who should we stay in touch with to learn about the park and your preservation efforts?

We can be found online at www.epconservancy.org. Sign up to receive our newsletter, follow us on social media including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @epconservancy, call us, email us, or simply come visit us at Emancipation Park in the Historic Third Ward…anytime!

Be sure to follow along with the Emancipation Park Conservancy’s on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.