—Deacon Billy Turner, B1Daily

Ever wondered how Memorial Day started?

Simple the love and grace of America’s little angels, the daughters of the Freedmen.

On May 1st, 1865, over 3,000 Black school children carried bouquets of flowers and sang spiritual messages like “Judgment” and “Babylon’s Falling” while members of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment and other Black Union regiments performed double time marches and Black ministers recited verses from the Bible.

The festival was attended by around 10,000 people, most of whom were Black. Thousands of Black children marched around the racetrack holding flowers and singing. Behind them were their parents, the freed Black men and women who had just defeated the confederacy. This would end up becoming the very first Memorial Day parade.

Black girls placed crowns of flowers on the Black troops heads as they arrived home, starting the fabled tradition of bouquets for soldiers and veterans on this day, and marking the beginning of the new summer. 

We are free, and we must never forget the sacrifices our ancestors made in our stead. 

Now, as the world celebrates the majesty of the Freedmen, let us rest, recuperate, and prepare to begin fighting once more. 

Fore freedom is rarely “free” brothas and sistas. 

God bless the free negroes, and god bless America.

—Deacon Billy Turner, B1Daily