‘Hour of Power’ commemorates Juneteenth

WADESBORO — Black leaders in Anson County decided to celebrate this year’s Juneteenth virtually by hosting an online poetry slam called “An Hour of Power”.

“Juneteenth is the oldest nationally-celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States,” explained writer and activist Kimberly Harrington, founder of Onyxlspeaking Media. “Though the Emancipation Proclamation was official on Jan. 1, 1863, it was 2 1/2 years later that slaves in Galveston, Texas, got the news on June 19, 1865.”

Though Juneteenth celebrations first began in Texas, it has since spread across the nation.

“We’ve always celebrated Juneteenth, in some form or fashion,” said Harrington. “We would go to an event out of town because their usually wasn’t an event locally. This year, there seems to be a renewed interest it because of the racial climate in this country. We were like, ‘What can we do?’”

Harrington’s inspiration for what could be done came after watching a video clip of Jennifer Lewis, an actress known for her role in T.V.’s Blackish.

“She has this song/spoken-word piece called, “Take Your Knee Off My Neck”. When I saw that, it really moved me,” said Harrington.

In addition to “Take Your Knee Off My Neck”, Harrington was also inspired by heartfelt performances of artists such as Nick Cannon and L.L. Cool J who had posted videos on Instagram.

“They were communicating through rap and that’s been our history,” said Harrington. “If you go back to these poems by Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, we’ve always expressed how we felt in these poems and writings. We’re just continuing that tradition.”

The recent spoken word and rap performance may have inspired Harrington to host a poetry slam, but it was not the first time Harrington had gotten involved in activism or poetry.

“I remember, it was probably 20 years ago, Leon Gatewood, Rev. Vivian Williams, and myself, we worked on a Black history program together and it incorporated poetry,” said Harrington. “Rev. Williams, she researched all the poems herself and gave them to us to memorize. We performed our pieces at Wadesboro Elementary School. It was one of the most memorable Black history programs I remember participating in.”

“Since that was a success, I felt like we should do it again for Juneteenth,” said Harrington. “Since we can’t get together, publicly, we can have this poetry slam. We started putting feelers out there and one of my former coworkers said, ‘my brother just wrote a poetry book.’ so I contacted him and he agreed to be a part of it.”

The poet Harrington mentions is Kian Furnace of Raleigh. His recent poetry book, entitled “After the Snap,” is described in a press release as, “a collection of real and raw poetry that captures his journey of hitting the reset button on life, overcoming pain and low self-esteem, and rediscovering the man he knew was there all along.”

“I found the courage to start anew, and writing poetry turned into a regular part of my recovery,” Furnace said. “My poetry can be described as optimistic, hopeful, and longing – bitter in spots, but the finish promises to be sweet.”

Furnace is just one of several poets across the state who performed during an Hour of Power. Other poets included journalist, storyteller, and thespian Thomasi McDonald, as well as author and justice advocate Rev. Dian Jackson Davis, senior minister of Mt. Zion United Church of Christ.

For Harrington, “An Hour of Power” is just the beginning.

“I can see us moving this along in this vein,” said Harrington. “Leon and I met with the Wadesboro Police Department and we talked about the ‘Eight Can Wait”, which are eight things that police can do to decrease incidents of brutality. We went over each one with them and got a feel for how we can move forward.”

It was during that meeting that Wadesboro Town Manager David Edwards asked Harrington, “What’s next?”

“We want to have a community forum,” was Harrington’s response. “As soon as we are allowed to meet in a larger setting, we want to plan a community forum so we can better enhance the relationship between the community and police.”

Harrington also plans to establish a mass media brand called “Onxlyspeaking”. “Onxlyspeaking comes from the phrase Honestly Speaking,” explains Harrington. “I say Onxylyspeaking because, as a Black woman, I can only speak from the black perspective so I wanted to use this as a space for Black voices.”

This brand will include videos, writings, blog posts, and poetry.