Over the years I have written several social media posts about Juneteenth, also known as Emancipation Day, but never anything here, so I decided to put them all in one place in hopes that others find them useful for their own knowledge building or teaching. I was in my late 20s before learning about this day, from Dr. Vanessa Hodges, who at that time was a professor of Social Work at UNC. She later became my dissertation advisor and heaven granted her a lot of patience with that. I am so thankful for all she taught me, including about Juneteenth.
First up, a friend and colleague (Dr. Carmen Reese Foster) wrote this opinion piece for The Tennesseean (our Nashville newspaper) a few years ago on needing to move from performative acts to taking actions that address systemic racism. There is a lot of power in this piece, with the reminder that while Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday, the results have looked more like Juneteenth napkins and picnic ware at Walmart as opposed to policies that lead our nation to equity in income, housing, education, and more.
Reverend Dr. William Barber’s prayer and charge for Juneteenth is another powerful thing to watch and reflect on. You can see it here on Youtube. “Juneteenth can’t be merely a form of celebration but also consecration. When we remember it must be so that we understand that we can’t relax and we can’t retreat”. His exhortation and history lesson on slavery as an American original sin…not just a southern problem, is especially important. It is particularly chilling when he lists insurance companies and banks that insured and built wealth for enslavers…companies that are still around today (and were built on money from enslaving people). Also, stop saying Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves. Reverend Barber is a truth teller. “You passed the holiday but you won’t restore the voting rights…and you won’t pass living wages….or you won’t pass police reform….nothing but hypocrisy”.
Here is a podcast episode from Cite Black Women, recorded a couple of years ago, about the origins of Juneteenth. I learned so much about timeline of emancipation days, what happened in Galveston, connections between Juneteenth and “watch night” services, connections with early policies and the establishment of Black communities in Oklahoma, and more.
Here is a Juneteenth reading list from the National Museum of African American History and Culture. So many good resources on here! I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these, a combination of biographies, non-fiction, historical fiction, and poetry.
The Equal Justice Institute resource and daily calendar is a great resource year round, and their entry on Juneteenth is no exception.
And finally, at least for now, the Zinn Education Project has so much information on Reconstruction and Juneteenth, connections with Memorial Day and decoration of graves. Apart from the resources on history, there are also connections and teaching resources on policing, redlining, book bans, voter suppression laws, and the need to teach history truthfully.
Teaching (toward) the Beloved Community 