A Celebration of Freedom Across the Border
The community of “El Nacimiento” (Birthplace of the Blacks) is part of the municipality of Muzquiz in the Mexican state of Coahuila (right under Texas). Coahuila and Texas were once the same Mexican state (“Coahuila y Tejas”) before its northern part was taken during the Texas Revolution.
The town was established by African Americans from the United States who crossed the Rio Grande to escape slavery. The Black Seminoles, known as “Los Negros Mascogos” settled in “El Nacimiento de Los Negros”, México, in 1852.
Their story began during colonial times when Africans in the British colony of America fled to the Spanish territory of Florida to escape slavery. They intermarried with the native Seminole tribe, thus becoming the “Black Seminoles.” When the British began to advance into Florida, these Black Seminoles fled through Texas into Mexico to escape enslavement.
Mexico abolished slavery in 1829, under the administration of Afro-Mexican President Vicente Guerrero. The USA did not abolish human slavery until 1865, so Africans could escape across the Rio Grande to freedom. This pathway to freedom is known as the “Underground Railroad to the South.”
Juneteenth Celebration
June 19th – “Juneteenth” – is a holiday to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. The holiday was first celebrated in Texas on June 19, 1865, in the aftermath of the Civil War, when enslaved people in that state were declared free under the 1862 Emancipation Proclamation.
The ancestors of African Americans in El Nacimiento celebrate this holiday along with their families and friends across the border. View this video from the town. (Courtesy of Radar 2022)
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