North Carolina's Black heritage holiday destinations

NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL AND CULTURAL RESOURCES

Interpretive dancers are the center of attention at the annual Jonkonnu at Stagville celebration at Stagville historic site in Bahama, N.C.

When planning holiday attractions and travel destinations, consider trips that highlight Black heritage and culture in North Carolina.

Here are a couple of events and attractions to consider that are within driving distance or can even be brought to your front door.

Jonkonnu at Stagville

The celebration will be held on Dec. 9 from 4:30-6 p.m. at the Stagville state historic site in Bahama, located north of Durham. Some local Durham musicians as well as St. Sya Academy students will perform. Tickets are $5 and children 12 and under are free.

The history of Jonkonnu dates to the 17th century in the Bahamas. Slaves would cover their faces and dance to music in celebration during the Christmas holiday. It is one of the oldest dance forms in Jamacia and according to the Jamacia information service, the celebration was allowed on certain occasions.

“The word Jonkonnu originates and refers to a diverse culture of traditions,” Vera Cecelski, the director of Historic Stagville said. “There are surviving accounts which show that this tradition was a masquerade and tradition that included the preservation of drum and dance with roots in West Africa.”

Stagville is one of the only sites in North America that have primary source documentation of Jonkonnu, which was adapted over generations. There are several locations across North Carolina where there is documentation of Jonkonnu, which in some ways makes it unique to North Carolina.

“People of West African descent brought this tradition with them into slavery in North Carolina and it managed to survive and persist here for decades,” Cecelski said. “We know that it had to adapt and change to survive, so it may have looked a lot different. But we see some of those common themes of masquerade, parade, drums and dance.”

After the performance, visitors will be treated to storytelling by a bonfire about the traditions of Jonkonnu past and present. Dress appropriately for the weather.

“We actually have a surviving letter here from Stagville that describes a Jonkonnu that happened here in the 1840s,” Cecelski said. “So, the performance and event that we have today is based on that historic documentation and this program is a collaboration between our historic sites and a wonderful school here in Durham, St. Sya Academy.”

Cecelski believes that the event will help continue to inform people of the West African culture and ways they celebrated this time of the year.

“The mission of our site is to focus on teaching about the lives of people here,” she said. “Also, not just understanding the institution of slavery, but the stories of resistance and cultural retention and family connection that survived here.”

Santas Just Like Me

Santas Just Like Me has been around since 2013 and gives Black children the opportunity to see Santa like themselves.

Founder Stafford Braxton saw a need for the program more than 10 years ago as a mall photographer in the Raleigh area. Families would ask if there were ever going to be Black Santas there. He would jokingly say the mall wouldn’t allow it. Turns out, he was right.

“So, when I went and approached the mall management about doing a Santa a Black family event, they basically said it was a good idea,” he said, “but that's as far as they went with it.”
Braxton figured that if anything were to happen, he needed to do it. He started by looking for candidates with natural beards that fit the jolly mold.

Santas Just Like Me offers Santa buddy meet-ups where clients can book a visit. They also offer photography sessions at various price points and Santa pop-ups. Companies can sponsor an on-site appearance and they even offer virtual Santa meetings.

They have events across the Raleigh and Durham areas as well as Charlotte.

“We did the tree lighting in Charlotte last year, and the year before,” Braxton said.

Braxton feels it is vital to have Santas of all races to show inclusion among people of all races and cultures.

“When I was growing up and you’d watch television,” he said, “you’d think that Black people didn’t celebrate Christmas. You rarely saw anything on television that had any Black characters in prominent roles. When I had the chance to provide this opportunity to families of color, I had to because it is important for minorities to have representation during the Christmas season.”

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