11:57 in my time zone. Happy Juneteenth, all! Did you do anything special?
This is a short but excellent essay on Juneteenth. The first paragraph is especially powerful, describing how both freed and enslaved African Americans kept vigil on the night before the Emancipation Proclamation took effect. Can you imagine what that must be like? To one moment be someone else’s property and the next to have your freedom?
In another article it was described how some slave holders in the southern states migrated to Texas with their slaves to try to escape the abolition of slavery. It took 2 1/2 years for the news to reach the last places where slavery was still being practiced.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth
Thank you! Happy Juneteenth!!!
Happy Juneteenth!
Oh my goodness, we need a good movie about Robert Smalls!
I don’t feel so bad now that I realize the federal holiday is being celebrated today since yesterday fell on a Sunday.
Here’s a brief story from NPR correcting some popular misconceptions about the history of Juneteenth. One big one: it wasn’t that the news hadn’t hit Texas, both slaves and slave owners knew about the Emancipation Proclamation, it was that no one was enforcing it. The arrival of the army changed that.
https://apple.news/A1VN5rlJPTy6U_NHEIwX-Nw
I can’t find the interview I heard today on NPR but this will have to do. I carries the essence of it. One thing missing is the part I wanted to hear the most. The interviewer asked her about her ideas on how to begin and end a Juneteenth celebration. She said in her home, as people gathered, she would stop the activities and have everyone gather around. She would skip the plastic cups and get out the good glasses. She would quiet the room, say a prayer, and then raise a toast. I got very emotional hearing this. I liked it that she took a moment to be solemn and remember that her people had been free people, then captured and enslaved, and then freed once again, and to honor that history.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2022/06/18/263127254/chef-nicole-a-taylor-talks-red-birds-red-drink-and-juneteenth?ft=nprml&f=