Today is Juneteenth and all day I’ve been debating some of my friends who say Juneteenth is not worth celebrating. Main reason being, that we should have never been enslaved in the first place. A point I used to have myself. I actually used to share the same opinions and views as the friends Ive been debating all morning. But now I see things differently and its not just because we have a Black president ( for real this time ).
I see things differently now because I now realize the power or information and knowledge. Speaking of which, if youre not all the way sure what Juneteenth is about, I invite you to educate your self http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juneteeth …
I think what alot of people fail to realize, is that when Black people were enslaved in America, we were not only deprived of our freedom, in the sense that we had no rights, no options, forced to work, we had masters, we were considered sub-human. But the biggest thing our then masters wanted to deny us was education and information. The less you know as a person, the easier you are to control. Its been proven through out time. Also whats been proven through out time, is that information and knowledge is power. Juneteeth is a shining example of that fact. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued in sept 1862 and to take effect jan 1863. Except for the people of the “great” state of texas decided NOT TO TELL or recognize that slaves had been freed for two whole years. On this day, June 19th 1865, the Black people of texas were informed by Union troops that they had been freed two years previous. To put that into perspective. Imagine somebody got two years of free work from you. Not only free work, but it was ok to keep you in bondage against your will. Imagine if you were imprisoned for no reason and forced to work and you could have been released from that situation two years ago… only if you would have known. only if some body would have told you about the new law that was passed. Only if you would have known. Think about all the people that were whipped and didnt have to be. Think about all the work that was done that nobody was paid for. Think about wishing for freedom you really already had but you just didnt know it!
fantastic pov. I completely agree. a day when information causes lifechanging experience is always worth celebration.
I agree with Sylvia, and also want to add that I look forward to Passover every year for similar reasons – it’s a time to remember that we were once slaves in Egypt and now we are so, so much more. It chills me today, and this was thousands of years ago – 144 is a drop in the bucket. So CONGRAJUNETEENTHLATIONS!
great points OJ. i almost teared up :)
somebody on my facebook tried to tell me it was a stupid ass holiday to celebrate. his parents are from africa though, so i pretty much didn’t want to go down this path with him, because at the end of the day i think his pov is irrelevant on this subject. he might as well be white.
ive def acknowledged juneteenth since i was a kid, seeing that half of my fam is from Texas (the black half). it kind of was what every black person in/from texas did: celebrate. i didn’t really understand its importance until i was older though. i don’t know any black folks who openly stress about why it shoudn’t be celebrated…we celebrate how/when others became indepedent of others who opressed them: even the USA celebrates the 4th of July, and we celebrate cinco de mayo. why woudln’t we celebrate the best and closest representation of the ending of the civil war as we knew it (slavery)?
Maybe we shouldn’t have been enslaved, but we were. Now we have history to teach us about the mistakes of the past and how to avoid them.
Juneteenth is actually one of the few days I really cherish. Abolition of slavery changed the world as we know it and it’s a day we need to remember.