For one Houston area family, Juneteenth is part of their family history. It is the day Eugene Howard’s ancestors were freed.
He calls it a Juneteenth Legacy.
Howard’s great-grandfather, Paul Thompson and his father, Premice, both fought in the Civil War.
They then made their way to the New Territory area and built the Thompson Chapel in Fort Bend County. It was founded by the first freed black family in 1877.
He says his family built this church more than 150 years ago and back then, it was on 100 acres.
His great-grandfather and his father bought the land more than a decade after Union soldiers arrived in Texas and enforced the Emancipation Proclamation, a day called Juneteenth.
Today, the church sits on this small plot of land next to this New Territory neighborhood off Highway 99.
Eugene Howard, a community activist and head of Visionary Outreach, says he has spent a lot of his life fighting injustice and bringing attention to the mistreatment of the black community, especially by law enforcement.
“If they can murder George Floyd in the streets, they could murder any of us, and that I believe catapulted people to understand maybe there is something going wrong that we should take a look at,” said Eugene Howard of Visionary Outreach.
“Are we where we should be? Of course, not but at least we’re not at the very spot we were when Chauvin had his knee on his neck,” added Howard.
And just last week, a historic declaration for Brazoria County, where Howard resides and spends most of his time advocating.
County Commissioners officially recognized Juneteenth as a national holiday years after President Joe Biden made it a federal holiday in 2021.
Howard says it’s time for people to come together and celebrate freedom.
WEATHER: Juneteenth Forecast in Houston: Scattered storms, steamy temps expected
“Do not buy into the moniker that Juneteenth or black excellence is anti-white. I want to be very clear. It is such a special time, and it is American history, it’s not whether they want to say DEI or something else, no, it’s literally American history, it’s the story of this great nation,” says Howard.
You can celebrate in Pearland tonight at the Vision to Destiny Gala, the celebration of Freedom at Independence Park at Pearland High School at 10 am, and the first-ever Juneteenth Parade in the City of Pearland at 5 p.m.
- For more information on Visionary Outreach click here.
