Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Somewhere On Our Way: Juneteenth

Juneteenth

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“Hey Gus.”
“Hey Johnny.”
“It’s Juneteenth 2018.”
“Sounds like something?”
“It’s the last day American slaves learned they were free, 19 June 1865.”
“Where at?”
“Texas.”
“I have some memories Reb.”
“Good to know.”
“I see them.”
“Freed slaves?”
“We called ‘em ‘Darkies.'”
“Because they had a light?”
“You’re being kind Johnny, though maybe; mostly I remember more joy than I ever saw.”
“Right.”
“Joyous eyes.”
“Freedom is something Gus.”
“You saw it too?”
“Of course.”
“What did you see?”
“A slave would rarely make eye contact, and only out of respect.”
“After?”
“Let’s refer to ‘em as ‘the newly freed citizens.'”
“‘Mericans too.”
“Correct. The newly freed ‘Mericans had a light, a way out, out of bondage.”
“Hard to put that light out once you have it Reb.”
“True words Yank …”
 
Next Up: Part 2 on 22 June of the summer series Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Somewhere On Our Way: Antietam Crows.
 
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

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