Why Juneteenth Is Important
- Miss Tianna E.
- Jun 23, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 24, 2020
JUNETEENTH SHOULD BE PROCLAIMED AND OBSERVED AS A FEDERAL HOLIDAY.
Juneteenth is the day celebrating the end of slavery. Yet the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective in 1863, it was still not fully implemented throughout all Confederate control and Texas obviously had the choice to carry enslavement out for another two and a half years. By 1865, word finally got to the enslaved Texans that they had been freed!
"Did you know? As of 2020, all but four states recognizes Juneteenth as a holiday."
There are activists who have been campaigning to make June 19 a national holiday for years such as 93-year old Texas native, Opal Lee. Like most Black Texans, Ms. Lee grew up celebrating Juneteenth so being able to see it finally getting the recognition it deserves from the Black community not only locally, but throughout the country has to be an amazing feeling. It symbolize the strides that have been taken and will continue. Did you know? As of 2020, all but four states (Hawaii, North Dakota, South Dakota, & Montana) recognizes Juneteenth as a holiday. There are 10 federal paid holidays that we celebrate year round (11 counting Inauguration every four years), Juneteenth should be proclaimed and observed as a federal holiday as well.
People celebrated not only on June 19th, but brought the celebration into the weekend as well. With the series of recent events playing throughout the United States, Black people are becoming for conscious and taking account of where they are spending their money, what businesses they are patronizing, and learning how to circulate the Black dollar for more than 6 hours!
NOW LETS CHAT.
Merriam-Webster defines Freedom as:
freedom noun (free·dom | \ ˈfrē-dəm \) -
1: the quality or state of being free: such as
a: the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action
b: liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : INDEPENDENCE
c: the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous
freedom from care
d: unrestricted use
gave him the freedom of their home
spoke the language with freedom
f: the quality of being frank, open, or outspoken
answered with freedom
g: improper familiarity
h: boldness of conception or execution
2a: a political right
Being Black in America, you see that your freedom is subjected to terms and conditions.
It says that freedom is our political right, a privilege yet throughout history and even recent times, we are being shown first hand that our rights is attached with a clause. Murders and use of excessive force by officers, that took the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor to protect and serve, are seen as "police brutality" and handled as slightly as a pop on the wrist to deescalate the Black community. We deserve to live and be free without providing a dissertation as to why.
By the way, ARREST AND CONVICT THE OFFICERS WHO KILLED BREONNA TAYLOR!
As stated in recent interview with political organizer, activist, and author of Hood Politics, Amani Southerland, we discussed the importance on knowing the bills that are being passed in our legislative. Southerland also covered how imperative it is for Black people to exercise your right to vote and actually hold the delegates accountable. We are the new generation of "grown folks business", we need to know what is going on within our communities. Make your vote count!
Did you know?
Trump won Florida by 113,000 votes. In Miami, 379,000 Black people didn't vote.
Trump won Michigan by 11,000 votes. In Detroit, 277,000 Black people didn't vote.
Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes. In Philadelphia, 238,000 Black people didn't vote.
If you need your election dates, here's the dates from late June until the end of August!
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