Thread by @DapperDomo

Hi my name is Domo. I’m from south Texas and a black Texan. My dad was born in 1936 and his grandma was a baby when black enslaved folk were freed in Texas on #Juneteeth ima tell y’all how we celebrate Independence Day in my family.

So. I’m from San Antonio, my daddy was from Gonzales county Texas (about an hour between San Antonio and Houston) every year during Juneteeth we would do what’s called a watermelon thump.

Watermelon is now a really twisted stereotype for black people but that actually came from an early disinformation campaign because post enslavement black folk were able to grow and sell them to make a living. White people didn’t like that so… stuff like this started to pop up.

It’s called a thump because when watermelons are ready to eat you can tell which ones are sweet by thumping them and listening for a hollow sound. (Also there are male and female watermelons, the sweet ones are the round ones with yellow bottoms too)

So every year when I was a kid my dad would take me down to his hometown and we would sit and pick out watermelons then BBQ. I’d get to listen to all my aunts and older cousins stories of growing up under Jim Crow. Partially why I am who I am today.

So today eat you some watermelon, sit at the feet of the elders, enjoy time with your peoples, dance, listen to music, and enjoy the freedom that people survived for you to have. Happy Independence Day daddy.