Before the Barbecues: The Black Roots of Memorial Day

For many Americans, Memorial Day means food on the grill, music in the backyard, and one long breath before summer officially begins. There is nothing wrong with gathering, resting, or celebrating life with the people you love. Still, the history behind the holiday deserves more attention than it usually gets.

One of the earliest Memorial Day observances traces back to Charleston, South Carolina, in 1865, when formerly enslaved Black Americans gathered to honor Union soldiers who died fighting during the Civil War. They cleaned burial grounds, held a procession, sang hymns, and laid flowers at the graves of fallen soldiers. Before Memorial Day became commercialized, Black communities were already practicing remembrance.

That history carries weight because Black soldiers have long fought for freedoms abroad while battling inequality at home. From the Buffalo Soldiers to the Tuskegee Airmen, generations of Black servicemen gave their labor, courage, and often their lives to a country that did not always fully honor them in return.

Memorial Day should remind us that history is not only built through speeches and monuments. Sometimes it is preserved through memory, through storytelling, and through refusing to let people be forgotten.

One book worth pairing with this Memorial Day is Half American by Matthew F. Delmont.

The book explores the experiences of more than one million Black men and women who served during World War II while confronting racism both inside and outside the military. It is a powerful reminder that Black military history is American history, even when the country tries to separate the two.

This Memorial Day, enjoy your family, your food, and your peace. Just make room to remember the people who helped make that peace possible.