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Easy Ways To Celebrate Juneteenth At Home

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Juneteenth is the annual holiday that celebrates Union soldiers arrival in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865 to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, and thereby freeing the last of the enslaved people in the United States. It is inherently a Texas celebration, and Black American celebration and it aims to honor a day weighed down by emotion.

Juneteenth is a time for gathering, celebrating, and nurturing Black culture; community celebration is essential to that. Circumstances don’t always allow for going out to local Juneteenth celebrations. Whether you want something smaller and more family-focused or aren’t one for big crowds, there are tons of ways to celebrate Juneteenth from home!

How To Celebrate Juneteenth At Home

Decor

Create a space right at home that embraces and celebrates Juneteenth with festive decor ideas. You can create festive garlands or banners from construction paper or plastic tablecloths. You can also create and hang a wreath on your front door. If you’re one for the details, you can also create a Juneteenth inspired tablescape.

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Food

Food is one of the most unifying elements we have across all cultures and celebrating Juneteenth is about unifying honoring, and preserving, so food is essential.

Red Food

Red foods have a complex history in both African and Black cultures with some symbolizing the bloodshed of the enslaved and in othert instances represeting strength and resilience. Many of the foods serve as a cultural link to other traditional foods. 1

Cultural Food

Black American cuisine is entirely too widespread and varied to list it all, but here are some good ideas to start with.

  • Macaroni and Cheese
  • Candy Yams
  • Hoppin John
  • Gumbo
  • Okra
  • BBQ
  • Grits

Food For Prosperity

These foods represent prosperity and can be found on the table for various Black celebrations.

  • Black-Eyed Peas
  • Leafy/Collard Greens
  • Pork
  • Fish
  • Cornbread/Hot Water Cakes
A Juneteenth cocktail graphic with the various cocktails images and ingredients. Save

Juneteenth Cocktails

These Juneteenth cocktails are created by Black pioneer bartenders or inspired by Black culture. John Dabney, Tom Bullock, and Julian Anderson made immense contributions to cocktail and culinary culture but their names are rarely celebrated, along with many others.

John Dabney is credited with popularizing the Mint Julep. 2 Tom Bullock’s 1917 The Ideal Bartender is the first cocktail manual published by a Black person. 3 4 Julian Anderson would follow in his footsteps with his 1919 Julian’s Recipes, possibly one of the last pre-prohibition cocktail manuals to be published.

1. John DABNEY’S “HAIL-STORM” MINT JULEP

To call Dabney’s Hail-Storm a crowd-favorite would be a disservice. The cocktail was so lauded, it was serve to royalty, Edward Prince of Wales, had three on a visit to Richmond. Seeing as you can get a Mint Julep almost anywhere these days, it’s safe to say it stands the test of time.

  • ½ OZ OF SIMPLE SYRUP
  • 6-8 LEAVES OF MINT INTO THE TUMBLER AND PRESS WELL WITH A MUDDLER OR THE END OF A BAR SPOON. (PRESSED NOT PULVERIZED)
  • LOTS OF SHAVED, CRUSHED, OR POUNDED ICE
  • MINT OR FRUIT TO GARNISH 
  • 3 OUNCES OF PEACH BRANDY (OR BOURBON, DARK RUM, COGNAC, OR ANY DARK LIQUOR. )
  1. To make the Hail Storm Mint Julep base pour ½ oz of simple syrup into a large glass tumbler or silver cup.
  2. Put 6-8 leaves of mint into the tumbler and press well with a muddler or bar spoon.
  3. Extract the mint flavor, but do not pulverize the leaves. You can also add peach, lemon, orange or cherry to your base if you’d like.
  4. Remove the pressed mint from the tumbler and add about 3 ounces of peach brandy (or dark liquor of your choice) and stir.
  5. Add the ice, lots of ice, fill the tumbler completely with shaved ice and then add more in a cone on top then garnish creatively with mint leaves and fruit.

2. TOM BULLOCK’S STONE SOUR

Tom Bullock’s cocktail manual is full of creative cocktails that add a new, refreshing spin. The stone sour is the Bullock’s gin spin on the whiskey sour. The recipe calls for the measurement “PONY” which would be around 1 oz, so the recipes calls for 1/2 oz.

It also calls for “ROCK CANDY SYRUP” which is a more saturated simple syrup. Where simple syrup uses a 1:1 ration ( 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water), rock candy uses a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio. Rock candy is created by allowing highly saturated syrup to crystalize around a stick. I’d recommend creating a syrup with a 2:1 ratio. It is easier to work with and less likely to crystallize on you.

  1. Use a tall, thin glass; fill with fine ice.
  • ½ PONY LEMON JUICE.
  • ½ PONY ORANGE JUICE.
  • 2 DASHES ROCK CANDY SYRUP.
  • 1 JIGGER OLD TOM GIN.

2. Leave in ice; stir well and serve.

3. JULIAN ANDERSON’S GREEN LIZARD 

This bright and minty cocktail is perfect for anyone who likes bold, florally flavors. Anderson created cocktails that were not afraid to go full out. While the recipe calls for One (1) bottle of soda, it does not specify how much. My independent research says that most bottles around this time were 6-7 oz, so I’d go with 6.5 oz.

  1. Serve in a large glass.
  • THE JUICE OF ONE LIME
  • ONE JIGGER OF GIN
  • ONE BOTTLE OF CLUB SODA 
  • 2 OR 3 PIECES OF ICE
  • ENOUGH CREME DE MENTHE TO COLOR.

4. GIN & JUICE or Julian Anderson’s Pick Me up

In the name of celebrating Black culture, a classic Gin and Juice is only right. So, I’ve included the recipe here. However, Julian Anderson published his own Gin and Juice well before Snoop, so perhaps that’s the way it made it into the culture.

GIN & JUICE

  • GLASS OF ICE 
  • 1 ½ OZ OF GIN
  • ORANGE JUICE TO TOP 
  • OPTIONAL ½ OZ SIMPLE SYRUP 
  • STIR AND SERVE

PICK ME UP

  • ½ GLASS OF SHAVED ICE 
  • JUICE OF ONE (1) ORANGE
  • 1 JIGGER OF GIN
  • 1 EGG WHITE
  • SHAKE WELL, STRAIN INTO A HIGH BALL GLASS AND SERVE

5. Blacker The Cherry KOOL-AID Cocktail 

This cocktail is a recipe of my own. A playful spin on the classic glass of Kool-Aid, it is perfect for hot summer days, but it’s the all grown up version. The name, an ode to Wallace Thurman’s novel The Blacker the Berry, and of course Pac’s “Keep Ya Head Up”, also functions as an instruction because the more of the syrup you add, the sweeter the cocktail.

To make the Kool-Aid Syrup, combine 1 cup of water and 1 cup of granulated sugar into a pot and place over medium heat. Once the syrup begins to boil and all of the sugar is dissolved, remove it from the heat and add 1/2 teaspoon of Black Cherry Kool-Aid powder. Mix well and then allow to cool. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

  • 2 OZ. BLACK CHERRY KOOL-AID SYRUP
  • 1 OZ. AMARETTO
  • 1.5 OZ. VANILLA VODKA
  • 1/2 OZ LIME JUICE
  1. Fill a rocks glass with ice
  2. Add ingredients and stir with a bar spoon until the glass is chilled.
  3. Enjoy.
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Activities

These activities can easily be done either alone or with a few people and can all be done from home with very little cost or effort.

Play Games

  • Music Trivia
  • Black Card Revoked/ Card Games
  • Black Culture Jeopardy
  • Black Culture Bingo
  • Juneteenth Trivia

Craft

Tend/Nurture

  • Plant Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables
  • Share A Meal

Foster Culture

  • Host A Recipe Exchange
  • Black Movie Marathon
  • Storytelling Session
  • Hair Braiding Workshop
  • Read Black Literature
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