Juneteenth Jubilee

January thunder from a distant pen, Lincoln struck the gavel, freedom spoke again, But Texas stood quiet at the edge of the war, Two years and a half behind the lodge room door. The compass drew a circle, but the line ran slow, Across the cotton fields where the hot winds blow, A quarter million souls still waiting to be free, Watching for a promise they had yet to see. Level the ground, let the truth be known, Every chain that's broken builds a stronger home The chains fell away when the word came through, June nineteenth beneath a Texas sky of blue. Galveston harbor, eighteen sixty-five, Union blue arriving with the news alive, General Granger read the order loud and clear, Freedom's long-awaited footsteps finally here. The old walls trembled, the lodge lights burned, A page of history finally turned, Square to the people, plumb to the right, A new dawn rising with the morning light. Level the ground, let the truth be known, Every child deserves to stand on their own The chains fell away when the word came through, June nineteenth beneath a Texas sky of blue. Barbecue smoke and a Jubilee song, Families reunited where they all belong, Pooling coins together, buying sacred ground, Emancipation Park where freedom gathered round. The trowel built community, the mortar held fast, Honoring tomorrow while remembering the past, Generation to generation, the story carried on, Like a lantern in the darkness before the dawn. From Houston to Chicago, from Texas to the coast, The children of the freed became the living host, Jim Crow tried to bury what the people knew, But truth has a habit of breaking through. Opal walked the distance, mile by mile, Carrying the torch with a determined smile, Until the nation paused and finally gave room, For a holiday born from freedom's bloom. Level the ground, let the truth be known, Every hand deserves the work it has sown The compass points forward, the old chains are through, And freedom keeps building what Juneteenth began to do. From Galveston Bay to the wide unknown, The rough stone rises and stands on its own, Gavel to history, and history to tune, Still singing freedom every nineteenth of June.