Watch Night has been observed on New Year’s Eve by African-American Methodists in the US since 1862, to mark the passage of the Emancipation Act. But this religious holiday goes back even farther in history, with even more layers of meaning.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chapter 1: What is Watch Night and its historical significance?
Yeah.
And for great reason. These days, the services can vary kind of depending on the congregation. Sometimes, like you said, they'll start a little earlier in the evening. and maybe end at like 10 o'clock. So you can still go out and celebrate New Year's however you want. Sometimes that is New Year's for you, and you take it all the way to midnight.
Depending on the church, they might really emphasize the Emancipation Proclamation aspect of it. Sometimes they might do that at all. It kind of just depends on where you're going, because it is a night that very much has two distinct meanings.
Yeah. For those congregants whose services end at 10, they're very well known to hop in a cab and put on their big oversized Nivea hat and say, get me to Times Square stat. Yeah.
That's one tradition I've never had any interest in doing.
Me either.
Zero.
That sounds so terrible. I mean, of course, the legend associated with it, which apparently is quite true, is like if you have to pee, T.S. for you because you have to stay in the same spot that you arrived in. And if you leave, you cannot come back in. So if you want to stay there until midnight... Buddy, you better be able to hold your pee for like six hours.
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Chapter 2: Why is Watch Night celebrated in the African-American Methodist community?
You know people are peeing in things right there next to you.
Yeah. You know, if you look over, somebody's zoned out and they have like a look of relief across their face, they're peeing themselves right then. Yeah. Why is that guy drinking yellow Gatorade? Brody. Yeah. Short Stuff is out. Happy New Year, everybody.
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