June 9, 2023 By Chad Fletcher
Celebrating Juneteenth in Hingham at the Hingham Unity Council (HUC)’s event will always be very meaningful to me. I live in Boston, but I was a METCO student in the town of Hingham. I have been actively involved with the planning of this celebration, and other HUC events, for years, and I’d like to share why here with you.
I did not have an easy childhood. I grew up sheltered, bullied, had a specialized education plan, and saw a child psychiatrist. I was bounced around by school administrators who were not quite sure what to do with me. As a result, I felt a different sort of enslavement: I was enslaved by the attitudes of others that I could not and would not ever be able to interact with other kids in my age group as I should; I was enslaved to the belief that I lacked or had inadequate intellectual ability; and I was enslaved by the stigma of mental health issues.
My personal emancipation came through a phone call. My mother (who was most concerned about what my future held, besides me) answered the phone and was told that I had been accepted to Hingham’s METCO program. Repeatedly, my mother tells me that she was so surprised that she nearly fell out of her chair. Hingham’s original METCO coordinator, Mrs. Camilla L. Roundtree, did the honors with that call in June 2002 – and my emancipation began! I’ve been a free man ever since. I have no intention of allowing anyone, or anything, to put me back into that state of mental slavery, or any state of mental slavery at that.
It has been important to me to be involved with the HUC, as this community is where I thrived after that personal emancipation day. My fellow students in Hingham embraced my differences, and my teachers and guidance counselor gave me the support I needed to flourish as a student athlete so I could proceed to higher education and get a Bachelor’s Degree under my belt. Juneteenth happens to fall just a couple weeks after the anniversary of the day my mom got that call and everything changed. So, the HUC Juneteenth celebration is very personal and meaningful to me, as I will always be celebrating two emancipation days at once there.
I hope you will join me at this celebration if you’re touched in any way by my story, and wish to perhaps witness and hear more stories of transformation from your neighbors in Hingham and beyond (this event is open to all – we encourage our neighbors across the South Shore to join us). Who knows, you might experience a transformation within yourself! PLUS, as in past years, it’s going to be a lot of fun, with live music by the phenomenal performer Sympli Whitney, an African drum and dance performance by Moussa Traore, a performance of the Black National Anthem by Hingham’s own acclaimed gospel artist Rakeem Andre, delicious food for purchase from Morrell’s BBQ and Dominican’s Chimis, the announcement of the winners of our Student Artistic Expression Contest and plenty of fun for young kids: a bounce house obstacle course, games (including some sensory toys generously donated by a community member especially for the event), balloon animals, and face painting, Juneteenth celebrations like ours take place as a reminder to all that our freedom is not to be taken for granted – and I believe this is an important reminder, as those who don’t learn history are bound to repeat it. This Juneteenth celebration at the Hingham Harbor Bandstand is only two hours, from 3-5pm, but the work that makes up our mission doesn’t end there. It’s only the beginning – we hope you’ll get involved!
I feel emancipated knowing a group like HUC exists in our community, working toward a culture of inclusivity and belonging where no child will be subject to the kind of mental enslavement I felt imprisoned by before I broke free. Emancipation is the word. Pass it on. I personally look forward to meeting you there. Lift every voice and sing!
The Hingham Unity Council extends a huge thank you to the many event sponsors for this upcoming celebration, including the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the INLY School in Scituate, as well as the Hingham Arts Alliance for generously funding our performers. For more information about this and other upcoming events and initiatives, join the Hingham Unity Council’s email list at www.hinghamunity.org and follow us on www.facebook.com/hinghamunitycouncil and at www.instagram.com/hinghamunitycouncil/. The Hingham Unity Council is fiscallysponsored by the South Shore Unity Council, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All are welcome and encouraged to participate in our events and programs.
Chad, thank you for sharing such a heartful and amazing story of your transformation out of emancipation. I was deeply impressed with your honesty of freedom. It something that I take dearly and will not allow this country to continue in this backwards attitude and try and make us feel like we are still slaves. Power to all people who feel their freedom is being tested.