Juneteenth in Charleston

“I could, as a free man, look across the bay toward the Eastern Shore where I was born a slave.”  Frederick Douglass

Well…I was curious. 

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On Juneteenth, this vintage auction sign was circulating on social media. So, my son and I took a trip downtown to see “2 Cumberland Street” in person. 

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Today, the former auction site is an empty shuttered building, is listed for sale and is across from a public parking garage.   I use this garage quite often because of its proximity to the French Quarter, a southeast section of Charleston filled with tourists, restaurants, French-inspired homes, iron work by master craftsman Phillip Simmons and street names like Prioleau.

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I, and so many other people, pass this building regularly without pausing, never thinking about the people sold and families broken and lost here.

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Cumberland Street runs perpendicular to East Bay, where the popular Fleet’s Landing restaurant sits.   Cruise ships launch from this section of the harbor.  

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Conveniently, it is next door to the United States Customs House, a building that occupies an entire block and is an imposing structure.

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The Customs House…where one would pay taxes for imports.

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This is American History and Charleston’s History.  

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I’m often asked why I made the choice to relocate to Charleston.  There are many reasons including being proximate  to my parents and extended family as well enjoying a different, slower, post-Covid lifestyle.

And then, of course, there is the beach. 

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But, I am also drawn to Charleston as I reclaim a bit of my own personal history and connection to this place.

As I live here, I learn more, walking about the city, talking to people who have “beenyah”, studying what surrounds me to supplement my limited understanding of our collective history.

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I am “taking up space” in a city that my ancestors certainly built. 

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And that means that even though I was born and raised in New York City, I also claim Charleston as my mine.

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#CuriousLeilani #charleston