Thanks for the reminder.

Word

Texas Event Focuses Juneteenth on Slave Life, by Andre Coe, Associated Press, June 19, 2008.

DALLAS - One weekend each year, Esudele Fagbenro and Safisha Hill transform a Texas farm into an 18th century African village, replete with thatched huts, craftsmen and rites of passage into adulthood.

Hundreds travel to the village to learn about life in Africa and to hear a history that’s been largely untold. They taste foods from around the African Diaspora and enjoy the rhythmic sounds of tribal drumming in the village.

The tranquility, however, is suddenly shattered by the arrival of slave traders, who raid the village, capture hundreds of men, women and children and herd them, bound and chained, into the crowded bow of a replica slave ship. Some cry while others simply stare off into space. Women wail each time villagers are taken.

The purpose of the re-enactment, Hill says, is to make certain that one of the most painful chapters of American history is never forgotten.

“We wanted to do something where people could remember their ancestors and tell their story,” she said. “It changes people’s perception, ...

---------

Death in Texas, By Sister Helen Prejean, January 13, 2005
(quote)
In his autobiography, [Texas Governor] Bush claimed ... the ... execution of Karla Faye Tucker .... But in an unguarded moment in 1999 while traveling during the presidential campaign, Bush revealed his true feelings to the journalist Tucker Carlson. Bush ... told Carlson that ... before the execution ... protesters had come to Austin to plead for clemency for her. Carlson asked Bush if he had met with any of the petitioners and was surprised when Bush whipped around, stared at him, and snapped, "No, I didn't meet with any of them." ... Bush went on to tell him that he had also refused to meet Larry King when he came to Texas .... King, Bush said, asked ... difficult questions, such as "What would you say to Governor Bush?"

What did Tucker answer? Carlson asked.

"Please," Bush whimpered, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "please, don't kill me."

Carlson was shocked. He couldn't believe Bush's callousness and reasoned that his cruel mimicry of the woman whose death he had authorized must have been sparked by anger ....
(end quote)