For many people, New Year's Eve is a time for getting drunk. For other's it's a time to celebrate the good things of the passing year and to look forward with optomism to the promise of the New Year. For some, it's just another excuse for a party. In the black community, New Year's Eve has another meaning besides all of the above. In black churches across the country, December 31st is a time to come together to celebrate Watch Night. And, there's a history behind all of this.

On December 31st, 1862 black Americans gathered in churches and homes awaiting the stroke of midnight. At midnight, the Emancipation Proclamation became law and brothers and sisters still in slavery were free. For awhile, that night was called Freedom's Eve. But, in more recent years it has been remembered as Watch Night. The church that we go to puts on an ambitious musical rememberance of that night, with spirituals of the period, and then traces the history of black Americans to the present through songs and dance. It's a very spiritual, moving experience, and I will never experience New Year's Eve in the same way as I have in the past.

There are many things to celebrate on New Year's Eve. Some are trivial and hedonistic. Some are truly joyful and filled with promise. But, what could be more powerful than celebrating freedom from slavery?

Jerry