It was 163 years ago that the slaves owned by Tennessee governor Andrew Johnson were freed in Greeneville, Tennessee. That freedom spread westward to the Mississippi River at Memphis like wildfire. The first recorded celebration by the former slaves was in Greeneville on that August 8th day.
Since then, African-Americans have gotten together every year to celebrate Emancipation Day. In Kingsport, it is celebrated as the Community Cookoff Cookout, put together by Ryan Smith and various wonderful community sponsors. Under a threatening-to-rainy sky, the event still brought out crowds.
