Community joins The Charlotte Observer: What does freedom mean to you?
About 20 community members gathered Wednesday evening with The Charlotte Observer to discuss what freedom means to them ahead of Juneteenth.
The workshop held at the University City Regional Library was a partnership with the Observer and The Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth, also called Emancipation Day, marks the end of slavery in the United States, when in 1865 the last group of enslaved persons in Galveston, Texas learned they were free.
The workshop began with a panel moderated by Observer editors Lisa Vernon-Sparks and Kendrick Marshall. Guest speakers Kenny Robinson, founder and president of Freedom Fighting Missionaries and Geraldine Sumter, an attorney and managing partner with Ferguson, Chambers & Sumter, P.A., shared their own experiences in relation to freedom.
Sumter spoke about her path to becoming a Civil Rights attorney from attending segregated schools as a child.
Robinson gave insight on his perspective as a formerly incarcerated Black man going from working any available job to the work he does now, advocating for criminal justice reform.
Each highlighted the difference between physical freedom — whether it was from being enslaved or behind prison bars — and the freedom for individuals to move toward self sufficiency.
Later, attendees split between four groups for round-table discussions. Here, they, including Observer staff and guest speakers, engaged in conversation that could barely be contained in the limited time offered.
Each group touched on topics spanning from the role of media in using methods of communication that reach everyone to the power of voting, education, protests, local focus, transgender issues and grassroots work.
The event wrapped up with another Q&A with Robinson and Sumter and on the subject of the importance of mentorship and community.
Robinson asserted that the group of participants gained community through Wednesday’s event “in the spirit of Juneteenth, in the spirit of freedom” with a diverse group where everyone had an opportunity to share their thoughts.
