Photo: SISCA 2025 Juneteenth Parade Marshall Lt. Col Richard L. Best Retired
by Windy Goodloe, SISCA secretary
Also printed in the “Kinney County Post”
On Thursday, June 19, 2025
On Saturday, June 14, the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery Association
(SISCA) held our annual Juneteenth celebration. The day was filled with both traditional and a couple newer events.
The first traditional event was our parade, which featured Lt. Col. Richard L. Best, US Army, Retired, as our parade
marshal.
While it was small, it was a spirited event. At the Juneteenth program that followed the parade,
SISCA president Augusta “Gigi” Pines welcomed everyone. Then, Sterling
“Smiley” Goodloe gave the opening prayer. Afterward, we sang “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which is also known as
the “Black National Anthem.”
Next, Lt. Col. Best spoke about the importance of Juneteenth and encouraged everyone to do their best and always keep
moving forward. Augusta Pines announced the
parade winners – (1)
Lt. Col. Richard L. Best, parade marshal,
(2) Mr. Talamantez and his horse riders,
and (3) Mr. Earwood.
This year, the Carver School, where Juneteenth is held, featured Gage Brown’s incredible artwork. Her work
was displayed along the walls within the school. While speaking about her work, Gage discussed how she uses natural
elements to create many of her pieces and how much of her work is informed by the
land and the people who live on it.
The next part of the program focused on discussing the history of Juneteenth.
For the Black Seminoles, our celebration of Juneteenth is interesting because at the
time that General Granger read General Order No. 3 in
Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865, we were already free. The Black
Seminoles, also known as the Negros Mascogos, found refuge and freedom in Mexico
in 1950.
Therefore, as our founder Miss Charles Emily Wilson stated we celebrate
Juneteenth in solidarity with our Black American brethren. Even though the Black
Seminoles were free, no one was truly free until everyone was.
Following our Juneteenth history discussion, we opened the floor for comments
from our attendees. Micco Fay, one of our board members, encouraged everyone to go out and
travel to our diasporic locations and to places that feature our history.
This is a great way to learn more about our history, and it’s a way to teach others about it. Next, we played a recording of Dr.
Maya Angelou reciting “Still I Rise.”
Then we sang “This Little Light of Mine,”
and Sterling Goodloe closed out the program with a final
prayer.
This year, we had a display table that featured red foods.
Our display featured red velvet cupcakes, strawberries, watermelon, and red soda. Other traditional red foods can
include hibiscus tea, red hot links, and red beans and rice. These foods represent the blood that was shed by
those who were enslaved, along with their resilience and sacrifice.
Following our program, we held our annual BBQ plate sale which featured brisket, chicken, sausage, rice, beans,
and potato salad. We had a great team that came together to prepare and serve the food, and then an even greater
group that cleaned up afterward. Once everyone’s bellies were full, we settled in for a few rounds of loteria.
There were several shouts of victory (and a few groans of defeat), as the game
became competitive. This year, we also had a table for kids’ crafts, so several of the kids (little and big) made necklaces
and bracelets using noodles that had been dyed red, white, and blue(traditional Juneteenth colors) and cards
for Juneteenth and Father’s Day. Following loteria, we had an Afro-Seminole Creole (ASC) lesson that was taught by Gabriel Sanchez. This was the second lesson that Gabriel has taught. Even though we focused on the basics of ASC, everyone who attended came away with a better understanding
of the structure and origins of our language. We are looking forward to continuing our revitalization efforts and
having our next in-person lesson in September. As our treasure Corina Torralba stated, this year’s Juneteenth in
Brackettville was “small, but it was powerful, full of love and unity.”
