For a third year in a row, I reprised my role as newly emancipated slave, Mattie Gilmore. I always stress over the few lines I have to memorize, but this third time was truly a charm. The words flowed from my mouth like sacred enlightened water. I was joined by three other actors. We all received blurbs from “SLAVE NARRATIVES: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves.”(Read the Texas chapter here.)
I loved my grandma-from-little-red-ridinghood look, complete with bonnet and apron. At one point, that bonnet slowly trapped in so much heat, I became fuzzy-headed. The other actress reminded me of how nervous I’d been my first time, but she had her excerpt, which was at least four times as long as mine, printed out and she read it to the visitors.
This guy, dressed as a soldier, insisted that his image was on the Juneteenth sign. I knew it couldn’t be, but humored him by taking his picture since that was behind the whole conversation.
In addition to vendors, character interpretations, book fair, and live stage performances, there was a dedication of Juneteenth statues in the back of the museum. Let freedom ring!
