Juneteenth in Juvie

Freeing one's self from the prison of the mind.

by Bruce Schimmel

When LeRoy C. Simon lets down his hair, it's time to party. And today, Simon lifted his signature white cowboy hat and let a mass of bronze dreads tumble to his waist.

This was a very special occasion for the volunteer coordinator at Philadelphia's Youth Study Center. It was Juneteenth, and everyone here longed for a taste of freedom.

Juneteenth celebrates an emancipation that took place on the nineteenth of June, some two years after the Civil War ended, when slaves held in the far reaches of Texas were finally set free.

The holiday isn't celebrated much north of the Mason-Dixon. Which is a shame. Because its tale of freedom delayed is universal, and is in some ways more poignant than the Fourth of July.

This was the first time that Juneteenth would be celebrated at the Youth Student Center, a place where freedom is especially precious. The YSC is a lockup that holds juvenile offenders while the court figures out what to do with them.

In this temporary facility — a former insane asylum near East Falls — the children shuttle between their cramped cells and airless dayrooms for school. Back and forth, day in, day out. Literally, the only time they can breathe fresh air or feel the sun is when they go to court. There is no yard time.

It will take at least a year to build a permanent center in West Philly. So the kids at the YSC — as well as their caretakers — really needed a spiritual jolt. Which is why Simon suggested Juneteenth.

The logistics of assembling everyone in the ancient gym were daunting. But after some 30 years working with kids, with only a year until retirement, Simon hoped to create a legacy of Juneteenth at YSC.

When the children filed in, they looked sullen and bored. But as teachers came to the podium to retell this story of liberation, the room came alive. In honor of the day, students read original poems; others did skits, and danced.

The highlight, certainly, was the singing. Led by Virgie Rasheed-Thorn — a nightingale who supervises the social workers in her day job — students, teachers and guards sang classic hymns of freedom: "Lift Every Voice and Sing," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

I asked Rasheed-Thorn if she sings these songs in church. She used to, she said. "Now I sing them in my mosque." Apparently, songs of liberation translate nicely across creeds.

As we sang about the Lord "troubling the waters" to protect the slaves, I felt a familiar joy. That of Passover, the Jewish celebration of liberation, when the Red Sea was parted.

"It lifted my spirits," said Simon. "I felt light on my feet. As soon as I explained Juneteenth, it was surprising how well people responded to the call — to laugh, to have a good time."

For an average high school, this show might have been unremarkable. But here's a place that's locked down, where some students are overwrought with rage.

And if Juneteenth can free people here, if only for a moment, "from the prison of your mind," as one teacher said, then liberation for many more might be just one good holiday away.

(bruce@schimmel.com)