Duo hikes Emancipation Trail to remember Juneteenth
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Ken Johnston, left, and Frank Thompson are walking 51 miles to Freedmen's Town this week. Photo: Courtesy of Ken Johnston
A dayslong hike from Galveston County to Houston's Freedmen's Town this week seeks to trace the path forged by the last of America's formerly enslaved people freed on Juneteenth.
Why it matters: The trek, undertaken by walking artist Ken Johnston and his friend Frank Thompson, encapsulates the holiday's legacy as the federal government considers formally recognizing the route as a historic trail.
Catch up quick: Johnston, whose self-described mission is to "put movement back into the Civil Rights Movement," started leading walks honoring civil rights in 2018 when he walked 400 miles across the South commemorating the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
- In the years since, he's held other walks nationwide promoting the history and understanding of Black life in America.
Driving the news: Johnston, from Philadelphia, and Thompson, originally from Fort Worth, embarked from Galveston on Wednesday morning ahead of predicted rains from Tropical Storm Alberto.
- The turbulent forecast didn't dissuade the duo from wanting to complete their journey because freedom seekers often faced similar meteorological uncertainty, Johnston tells Axios.
What they're saying: "It's not really freedom walk unless it's extremely cold, extremely hot or heavy rains," Johnston said. "This is a taste of it."
The intrigue: Johnston and Thompson worked with historians Sam Collins and Brady Mora to best replicate the actual route formerly enslaved people likely took when moving to Houston from Galveston following emancipation in 1865.
- The route will take them from Texas City to Santa Fe, then north through Friendswood, South Houston, Third Ward and finally to Freedmen's Town, Houston's first community established by formerly enslaved people, located on the south banks of Buffalo Bayou.
- In all, they'll have traversed nearly 51 miles by the time their journey ends Monday.
The latest: The National Park Service is still conducting an official feasibility study on establishing the historic trail after Congress, led by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Houston) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), passed a resolution in 2020.
- If it comes to fruition, the trail will be less of a congruent path and more of a series of markers along the historical route. The Texas Department of Transportation plans to incorporate parts of the historic trail, if it comes to be, in its work rebuilding Interstate 45 near downtown.
What's next: Community members in Third Ward plan to join Johnston and Thompson for the last leg of their walk to Freedmen's Town on Monday morning.
- Neighborhood groups will embark from the Texas AIDS Memorial Garden along the Columbia Tap Trail at 9:30am.