Elbert Williams Voting Corner at Juneteenth 2023 in Ypsilanti, Michigan – FESCH.TV

Elbert Williams Voting Corner at Juneteenth 2023 in Ypsilanti, Michigan & FESCH.TV:

Juneteenth is an American holiday that (performatively, yet importantly) commemorates the June 19,1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery in the state of Texas and other parts of the southwest. Signed into law by the Biden Administration as the Juneteenth National Day of Independence, it became a federal holiday in 2021.

Locally, our celebrations go back farther than most northern communities and one of the oldest and largest observances in Michigan. 2023 marked the 29th anniversary of the A2-NAACP’s Juneteenth observation in Ann Arbor, and the third year for the U-M Juneteenth Symposium and Ypsilanti’s Juneteenth celebration.

This year, the Elbert Williams Voting Corner had its first tabling event as part of the 3-day Ypsilanti Juneteenth Celebration. This celebration, led by local non-profit, Survivors Speak, was a true community event and embodiment the African principle Ujima, which is loosely translated from Swahili to mean Collective Work and Responsibility.

Elbert Williams was a voting rights activist and founding officer of the Brownsville, Tennessee branch of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). At just 31 years old, he was kidnapped by local law enforcement and later released into a murderous mob in 1940. He is believed to be the first voting rights activist to be killed in the line of duty, as in direct retaliation for helping people to register to vote. He is often overlooked because of intimidation and as it was before the official Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968). Elbert Williams Voter Engagement Day, observed annually on his birthday (October 15) and The Elbert Williams Voting Corner, was founded in 2022 by Elbert William’s great niece, Leslie McGraw. Leslie has been involved with local Juneteenth celebrations in some form or fashion since she was a teen. Bringing these worlds together was a dream. Over 100 festival goers stopped by the table to learn the story of Elbert Williams and how to get involved in the voting process here in Michigan.

Special recognition goes to 2023 Spring/Summer Intern and recent Journalism graduate from Eastern Michigan University, Imani Glaze, who created this video and Z, the great, great-grandniece of Elbert Williams whose duties as the new Junior Tabling Experience Specialist (aka kiddy swag bag preparer and errand runner).