Emancipation Day Memorial Highlights Black Influence

The results of the midterm elections and the blue wave that ushered in a record number of Black governors loomed large during this year’s Emancipation Day celebration in Greenbelt on Saturday, November 7 at the Community Center. Since 2018, Greenbelt has hosted the event commemorating November 1, 1864, the date when Maryland approved a constitutional amendment abolishing slavery in the state. The event featured poems and songs that remembered the struggles of enslaved Black people. It also included a libation ceremony, led by Dr. Lois Rosado, retired educator and founding chair of Greenbelt’s Black History and Culture Committee. The libation was a tradition that honored the memories of Black people from the times of slavery through the recent times of council meetings. As a practice of the tradition, Rosado read out the morals instilled by Black ancestors while attendees chorused “ashé” as a sign of agreement.

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