For me, freedom, liberation, resilience and overcoming challenge are but a few of the words that come to mind when I think of Juneteenth. Freedom and liberation have similar meanings, and are often used interchangeably, depending on the circumstances. But the reality for African Americans is that one can be “liberated” without truly being free. That’s where the resilience of a people to overcome their circumstances makes all the difference, especially for future generations.
The recent murders of black men by those sworn to uphold the law were in full view thanks to the magic of video. I think of the thousands of others killed or lynched at the hands of police and white vigilantes, often out of view, who didn’t make the news. Today, people are taking a closer look at the ugliness of racism everywhere.
I share the spirit of Juneteenth with the beleaguered DACA community in support of their ongoing fight for the freedom to call America their home. I commend the Supreme Court for liberating DACA from President Trump’s attempts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. I want our DACA sisters and brothers to know that many in the African American community feel your pain, understand your fight, and stand with you in your battle. America is your home. It’s up to us to make it the best that it can be.
Recently, President Trump absurdly proclaimed that he made Juneteenth “very famous” because “nobody had ever heard of it” before he decided to change the date of his ill-advised rally — from June 19 (Juneteenth) to June 20. He admitted that blacks suggested he not hold his rally on Juneteenth. I wonder if Sen. Tim Scott, the lone black Republican from South Carolina where Juneteenth has strong roots, was among them. Sen. Scott admits being stopped by the police several times, including on his way to the Senate chambers — yet declared recently that “America is not racist.” You have to wonder what planet he’s on. Ditto Housing and Urban Development Secretary and neurosurgeon Ben Carson who stunned the world when he deemed African Americans as “immigrants.” Slaves did not immigrate — they were brought to these shores as forced labor.
By way of background, Juneteenth marks the day (June 19, 1865), that Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas, with news that the war had ended, and slaves were now free — two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.
But Juneteenth is not just a time of celebration marking an oppressed people’s liberation. For African Americans it signifies the work of our ancestors who rolled up their sleeves and laid the foundation for our continuing quest for justice and equality, which sadly continues to be too long a work in progress. For me, the celebration embodies the hope and dreams of our forebears who not only labored for freedom but challenged and changed many obstacles along the way.
This year’s celebration of Juneteenth, especially, takes on a new meaning with the worldwide condemnation of police brutality and racism. It is not just a celebration of the end of slavery. That is too simplistic and misses the deeper meaning of the day. It is a celebration of the resilience of a people newly released from slavery but who still had to work for their freedom.
Today, there is more hope than ever before that, as a people, we will finally break the chains of systemic discrimination and racial injustice.
Joyce Ferriabough Bolling is a media and political strategist and communications specialist.
"freedom" - Google News
June 20, 2020 at 04:49PM
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Juneteenth celebrates freedom, honors challenges overcome - Boston Herald
"freedom" - Google News
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