Juneteenth Celebration + Recipes

Juneteenth is a time of celebration, reflection, and gratitude. Let’s dive in and explore the day, a few of my favorite Juneteenth recipes, the culture, and the history.

I’m so excited to celebrate Juneteenth this year now more than ever. We celebrate this day with events, family gatherings, festivals, music, food, dancing, spiritual services, and the list goes on. The older I get, the more I learn about our history, our ancestors, our practices, why we eat the foods we eat, sing the songs we sing, and pray the way we pray—and it gives me a deeper understanding of the African diaspora—and our beautiful heritage.

Juneteenth Recipes and Celebration — *(This photo was taken at the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI): National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama)*

WHAT IS JUNETEENTH?

Juneteenth Day is a time of reflection, gratitude, prayer, religious services, and events. It is observed annually on June Nineteenth (Juneteenth). This celebration is an integral part of America’s history, not just African American history. On this day, June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Texas, Major General Gordon Granger, a U.S. Army officer and Union general, declared that ALL slaves were free.

Remember, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863? It took years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued for ALL slaves to find out they were free. In her book, “High on the Hog”, Culinary historian and author, Dr. Jessica B. Harris calls this day the “late acceptance” of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Read: The Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day

A Celebration of Food and Juneteenth Recipes

From barbecue, watermelon, red velvet cake, red drinks, reddish-purple tea (called bissap), hibiscus tea, and side dishes made from the soul—all are staples for Juneteenth festivities.

Why Red Foods and Drinks?

You may have heard mention of red foods and beverages… “symbolizing the blood and resilience of former slaves” the cultural acknowledgment of the bloodshed. Red drinks are also a staple that was initially brought here by West Africans. It has also been stated that slaves celebrated with red sodas such as strawberry soda because they were not allowed to drink it before they became free.

Soul Food Conversation

Adrian Miller, author of “Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine One Plate at a Time” wrote:

“We have two ancestral red drinks that come across the Atlantic during the Atlantic slave trade from West Africa, and you’ve probably had both of them. One is cola — cola nuts are either white or reddish, and also hibiscus, which is a flower native to west Africa. So people would often make drinks using the nuts or the flower petals to color the drink or sweeten it to taste. And that’s the same basic formula of Kool-Aid.” Read more here.

Watermelon and red drinks are some of the oldest traditional foods for Juneteenth — but we also celebrate with barbecue, spicy red sausages, greens, fried fish, cornbread, black-eyed peas…the list goes on!