WEBVTT - Short Stuff: Watch Night

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff and a Happy

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<v Speaker 1>New Year to you. This is Short Stuff with the

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<v Speaker 1>Happy New Year edition. It's right.

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<v Speaker 2>I believe this is coming out on New Year's Day,

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<v Speaker 2>so I guess I mean that's still Happy New Year.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Happy twenty five to you, Chuck, yeah, and to

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<v Speaker 1>you and to Jerry. Yeah. So it's appropriate that we

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<v Speaker 1>are talking about watch Night tonight because it is a

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<v Speaker 1>long standing tradition in the African American community, specifically the

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<v Speaker 1>African American Methodist community that every New Year's Eve they

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<v Speaker 1>typically hold a service starting maybe around seven pm, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>ten pm, and that it traditionally ends just after midnight

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<v Speaker 1>after the New Year. And the reason that it's so

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<v Speaker 1>deeply rooted in the African American community in the United

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<v Speaker 1>States is because there was the what's considered the first

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<v Speaker 1>watch Night in this tradition, came on December thirty first,

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen sixty two. The next day Abraham Lincoln's executive order

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<v Speaker 1>known as the Emancipation Proclamation would come into effect.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right at the stroke of midnight, bringing in that

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<v Speaker 2>new year. Was a very special time obviously in America,

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<v Speaker 2>and it was called Freedom Eve for that reason as well.

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<v Speaker 2>But also watch night because you're you know, you're watching

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<v Speaker 2>that clock ticking towards freedom. When they gathered them that

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<v Speaker 2>first watch night, there were a lot of churches who

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<v Speaker 2>got together obviously still legally enslaved people, and they waited.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a pretty amazing tradition. You know. Beyond that, it

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<v Speaker 2>celebrates community, It celebrates faith obviously, and perseverance. There's a

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<v Speaker 2>description from the African American Museum that says, many congregants

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<v Speaker 2>across the nation bow and prayer me it's before the

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<v Speaker 2>midnight hour, as they sing out, watchman, watchman, please tell

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<v Speaker 2>me the hour of the night. In return, the minister

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<v Speaker 2>will reply, it is three minutes to midnight. It is

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<v Speaker 2>one minute before the new year. It is now midnight.

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<v Speaker 2>Freedom has come.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, pretty neat tradition. That's amazing. I say we take

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<v Speaker 1>it early a break and come back and talk a

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<v Speaker 1>little more about this tradition.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, let's do it.

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<v Speaker 1>So, Chuck. This is very much associated with again the

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<v Speaker 1>African American, specifically Methodist community. One of the other traditions

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<v Speaker 1>is that on New Year's Day, they'll have an amazing meal,

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<v Speaker 1>usually of Southern cuisine like Hopin' John. Of course, potato salad,

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<v Speaker 1>which is more German than Southern cornbread. That's a big one,

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<v Speaker 1>and it just sounds as delicious as can be. And

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people say, like, Okay, yes, watch Night.

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<v Speaker 1>The first one ever was December thirty first, eighteen sixty two.

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<v Speaker 1>But what a lot of people don't understand is that

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<v Speaker 1>watch Night was already a tradition in the Methodist denomination.

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<v Speaker 1>So the enslaved Africans who got together for this first

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<v Speaker 1>watch Night were actually doing two things. They were observing

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<v Speaker 1>that traditional Methodist watch Night service, but this one was

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<v Speaker 1>extra special because of the Emancipation Proclamation coming into effect

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<v Speaker 1>the next day.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it kind of took on a double meaning

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<v Speaker 2>at that point. Interestingly, it goes back to the Moravians,

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<v Speaker 2>who I know we've talked about more than once on

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<v Speaker 2>this show over the years.

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<v Speaker 1>That doesn't sound right.

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<v Speaker 2>The Moravians and I would be the Czech Republic now.

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<v Speaker 2>Way back in seventeen thirty three, John Wesley was the

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<v Speaker 2>founder of the Methodists, got it from the Moravians, brought

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<v Speaker 2>the watch Night vigil along to his denomination in about

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<v Speaker 2>seventeen forty. But these they would hold once a month

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<v Speaker 2>on full moons, they would have a service. I believe

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<v Speaker 2>the first one was in in the United States at

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<v Speaker 2>least was in seventeen seventy in Philadelphia at Old Saint

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<v Speaker 2>George's Church, and they continue to this day as Covenant

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<v Speaker 2>of Renewal Services. So, you know, it's a bit different

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<v Speaker 2>obviously than the meaning it would have later on with

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<v Speaker 2>the Emancipation Proclamation, but the double meaning is still held

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<v Speaker 2>true and dear.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, in the original Watch Night and still today. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the big threads to it, or the point to it,

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<v Speaker 1>is to get Methodists to reflect on just how well

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<v Speaker 1>they're living their life. I think the Snopes put it

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<v Speaker 1>in a way that if you basically die tomorrow, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>where are you going to go? Essentially? And then, I

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<v Speaker 1>guess is a pretty good thing to reflect on every

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<v Speaker 1>four weeks because a lot of stuff can happen in

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<v Speaker 1>four weeks.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, I was doing good last month, this month

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<v Speaker 2>not so.

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<v Speaker 1>Much, right, But yeah, that eighteen sixty two Watch Night

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<v Speaker 1>just changed everything so much that people don't even associate

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<v Speaker 1>it with that original version, that Covenant Renewal Service any longer.

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<v Speaker 1>They just associated with it the freedom from slavery, and

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<v Speaker 1>of course the emancipation proclamation didn't just like immediately free slaves.

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<v Speaker 1>It did on paper. Legally, as far as the US

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<v Speaker 1>federal government was concerned, all enslaved people were free as

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<v Speaker 1>of January first, eighteen sixty three. But the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>the Union was at war with the Confederacy, and the

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<v Speaker 1>Confederacy wasn't exactly observing new federal laws, especially ones that

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<v Speaker 1>freed the enslaved people in the South.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, they weren't like, okay, well, comply it sounds good.

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<v Speaker 1>No, it just did not go like that. But just

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<v Speaker 1>the gravity of what had just happened. This executive order

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<v Speaker 1>proclaimed by Lincoln, which apparently first came in September twenty second,

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen sixty two, he basically said, hey, everybody, get ready

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<v Speaker 1>for it, because on January first of next year, all

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<v Speaker 1>enslaved people are going to be free. He said that

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<v Speaker 1>all persons held as slaves within any state or designated

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<v Speaker 1>part of a state, the people whereof shall then be

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<v Speaker 1>in rebellion against the United States, shall be then thenceforward

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<v Speaker 1>and forever free. And there's probably no sweeter words for

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<v Speaker 1>enslaved people to hear coming out of Abraham Lincoln's mouth

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<v Speaker 1>at the time.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and then Lincoln kind of grinned and said, man,

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<v Speaker 2>just wait that you see the statue they're going to

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<v Speaker 2>build up me. Yeah, it's going to be bossed like,

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<v Speaker 2>people are going to love me. This is going to

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<v Speaker 2>be so great. Yeah, and for great reason. These days,

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<v Speaker 2>the services can vary kind of depending on the congregation. Sometimes,

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<v Speaker 2>like you said, they'll start a little earlier in the

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<v Speaker 2>evening and maybe end at like ten o'clock, so you

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<v Speaker 2>can still go out and you know, celebrate New Years

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<v Speaker 2>however you want. Sometimes that is New Year's for you,

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<v Speaker 2>and you take it all the way to midnight. Depending

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<v Speaker 2>on the church, they might really emphasize the Emancipation Proclamation

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<v Speaker 2>aspect of it. Sometimes they might do that at all.

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<v Speaker 2>It kind of just depends on where you're going, because

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<v Speaker 2>it does. It is a night that very much has

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<v Speaker 2>two distinct meanings.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for those congregants whose services end at ten, they're

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<v Speaker 1>very well known to hop in a cab and put

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<v Speaker 1>on their big oversized Nivia hat and to get me

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<v Speaker 1>to Times Square stat.

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<v Speaker 2>That's one tradition. I've never had any interest in doing

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<v Speaker 2>me either.

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<v Speaker 1>That sounds so terrible. I mean, of course, the legend

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<v Speaker 1>associated with it, which apparently is quite true. It's like

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<v Speaker 1>if you have to pe ts for you because you

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<v Speaker 1>have to stay in the same spot that you arrived

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<v Speaker 1>in and if you leave, you cannot come back in.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you want to stay there until midnight, buddy,

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<v Speaker 1>you better be able to hold your pee for like

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<v Speaker 1>six hours.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, people are being in things.

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<v Speaker 1>Right Yeah. You know if you look over somebody zoned

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<v Speaker 1>out and they have like a look of relief across

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<v Speaker 1>their face, they're peeing themselves right then?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, why is that God drinking yellow gatorade?

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<v Speaker 1>Crony? Yeah, short stuff is app Happy New Year, everybody.

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