By Tihut Tamrat, Voice and Viewpoint Staff Writer
Bright and early on Wednesday, June 19th, the WorldBeat Multicultural Center hosted its 2nd Annual Freedom Day Bird Walk in observance of the Juneeteenth holiday. June 19, 1865 was the date over 250,000 slaves in the Confederate state of Texas finally learned of their freedom, two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
The Worldbeat event began with the history behind what is also known as “Freedom Day”, foretold by Makeda Cheatom, founder and owner of the Worldbeat Multicultural Center.
Cheatom started with the history of slavery in the U.S., namely, the inspiring story of Harriet Tubman, and how bird calls were interwoven in the fight for freedom as “signals” to the captured that the path was clear to run to the North. Former slave, abolitionist and social activist Harriet Tubman famously spirited away countless slaves to freedom. Videos were played to inform the audience about how Tubman managed to help slaves escape through the “Underground Railroad” by following the “North Star”, known as “The Drinking Gourd”, or in layman’s terms “The Big Dipper”. Cheatom also spoke to unity, or “umoja” (which means “unity” in Swahili) that Juneteenth represents, stating, “No one is free until we all are, so let us come in unity.”
After this informative session, the audience and fellow birders were then ready to take on the Annual Birdwalk! Free seeds were offered, as prospective birders were prepped and ready with binoculars, hoping to spot native birds to San Diego as well as some rarities with a bird app called Merlin. This annual walk goes throughout and around Balboa Park, giving just a taste of what it might have been like to walk the path to freedom.
Plenty of soul food and children’s art activities were on hand as the 2nd Annual Freedom Day Birdwalk came to a close and birders gave their farewell to the loving ambience the WorldBeat Multicultural Center provided them with today!
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