0
0
Ok, confession time. I didn’t know anything about the importance of Juneteenth until I heard it in an African American History course in college, and even then, it was just a brief overview.
And then there was the Juneteenth episode of Black-ish that aired in 2019. It made me so proud to see our heritage being boldly presented in mainstream media ( shout out to Black-ish creator, Kenya Barris), but that was it.
It made me wonder, “why is our heritage shrouded in such secrecy?” We’re all too familiar with Independence Day, Columbus Day (which is canceled forever btw), and other national holidays, but why does it take until most of my generation is hitting their thirties to learn about Juneteenth?
Well, welcome to MamaWoman Learning Academy, let me school you for a minute. Also, I highly recommend watching that Black-Ish episode too, especially with your family.
On January 1st, 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. In school, we learned it freed ALL the slaves. But in actuality, there were some delays. About a two year delay to be exact, for slaves in the south, all the ways down to Texas, to know they were free.
Union soldiers traveled throughout the south to spread the news. And on June 19th, 1865, General Granger and the Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that slavery had finally ended. After 245 years of bondage on American soil, the last 250,000 slaves were finally free nearly two months after the war was over and two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
But remember, I said Free-ish, right? Juneteenth recognizes the last Union announcement of the emancipation in Texas, and it’s important to note that many African Americans remained subjected to the realities of slavery in America long after June 19th, 1865. Those informed by Granger were far from the last to be free in America. Hence, the Jim Crow era, the industrial prison complex, redlining, segregation, unlawful medical experiments, educational inequality, otherwise known as systemic racism.
Texas began celebrating Juneteenth in 1866, with parades, cookouts, prayer gatherings, and cultural events. And on January 1st, 1980, Juneteenth officially became a Texas state holiday making it the first state to do so.
And literally in our year 2020, present-day, 155 years later, on June 16th Governor Ralph Northam declared Juneteenth, a National State Holiday for Virginia. It has been commemorated in Virginia since 2007 but not as a national holiday. Lest we forget, Virginia was once the state with the most slaves.
However, we are still fighting to be free! STILL, lobbying to have a say, STILL fighting for our lives, STILL protesting to be protected!
So, on this Juneteenth, let’s teach our babies about our real history as the Independence Day of African Americans. Don’t let them wait until they are damn near grown to learn their true history. Let’s celebrate it now! Where are the parades and cookouts at y’all!? Oh, wait…the Rona’…damn.
Next year though, we cutting up!
