The History of Juneteenth, By dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Celebrations of Juneteenth date to 1866, and at first involved church-centered community gatherings in Texas. Juneteenth soon spread across the South and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, Juneteenth was eclipsed by the struggle for postwar civil rights, but it grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African American freedom and arts. In the 21st century, Juneteenth in celebrated in most major cities across the United States. Activists are campaigning for the United States Congress to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. Juneteenth is recognized as a state holiday or special day of observance in 47 of the 50 U.S. state.
The word Juneteenth is a portmanteau of June and nineteenth and it is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, and Liberation Day. Today Juneteenth observance is primarily in local celebrations. Traditions include public readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, singing traditional songs such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Lift Every Voice and Sing", and reading of works by noted African-American writers such as Ralph Ellison and Maya Angelou. The Mascogos, descendants of Black Seminoles, of Coahuila, Mexico, also celebrate Juneteenth.
I first heard of Juneteenth as a young child, but I didn’t participate in any celebrations until my sophomore year at the University of Michigan. As the years have gone on the holiday has gained more traction in more and more regions of the United States. In my experience it is eclipsing Kwanza as the most significant African-American holiday.
On June 19th 1865 Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation which had become official on January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on Texas due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
Attempts by historian to explain this two and a half year delay in the receipt of the Emancipation Plocamation have yielded several different versions that have been handed down through history. One common story is that a messenger was murdered on his way to Texas with the news of freedom. Another is that the news was deliberately withheld by the slave holders to maintain the labor force on their plantations. Yet another is that federal troops actually waited for the slave owners to reap the benefits of one last cotton harvest before going to Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. Of course all, some, or none of these various versions could be true. Some Confederate sympathizers questioned, President Lincoln's authority over the rebellious. But whatever the reasons, conditions in Texas remained status quo well beyond what it legally should have been.
Upon landing in Galveston one of General Granger’s first orders of business was to read to the people of Texas, General Order Number 3 which began most significantly with:
"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer."
Reactions from the enslaved populations upon hearing this proclamation ranged from shock to jubilation. While many lingered near their former enslaved plantations, more immediately left a testament to varying conditions on plantations but a strong desire for freedom in most. Even with nowhere to go, most felt that leaving the plantation would be their first grasp of freedom. North was a logical destination and for many it represented true freedom, while the desire to reach family members in neighboring states lead some to Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. Settling into these new areas as free men and women brought on new realities and the challenges of establishing a heretofore non-existent status for black people in America. Thus a festival recounting the memories of that great day in June of 1865 served as motivation from the growing pressures encountered in their new localities.
The declaration of June 19th was eventually coined as "Juneteenth" and began to grow with more participation from descendants of former slaves. The Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring and praying together, as well as for gathering remaining family members for celebration. Juneteenth continued to be highly revered in Texas decades later, with many former slaves and descendants making an annual pilgrimage back to Galveston on this date.
At Juneteenth festivals a wide range of activities were provided to entertain the masses, many of these traditions continue to this day. Rodeos, fishing, barbecuing and baseball were a few of the typical Juneteenth activities you may still witness today. Juneteenth always focused on personal and community education and self improvement. Guest speakers are often brought in and the elders are called on to recount the events of the past. Prayer services were and are a major part of these celebrations.
Certain foods became popular and subsequently synonymous with Juneteenth celebrations such as strawberry soda-pop. Traditionally and just as popular was barbecuing, through which Juneteenth participants could share in the spirit and aromas that their ancestors - the newly emancipated African Americans, would have experienced during their ceremonies. Hence, the barbecue pit is often established as the center of attention at Juneteenth celebrations. Food was abundant because everyone prepared a special dish. Meats such as lamb, pork and beef which were not available everyday were brought on this special occasion. A true Juneteenth celebrations left visitors bellies well satisfied and their minds full.
“Dressing up” was an important element in early Juneteenth customs and is often still taken seriously today, particularly by the direct descendants who can make the connection to this tradition's roots. During slavery there were laws on the books in many areas that prohibited or limited the dressing of the enslaved. During the initial days of the emancipation celebrations, there are accounts of former slaves tossing their ragged garments into the creeks and rivers and adorning themselves with clothing taken from the plantations belonging to their former 'masters'.
Formerly enslaved people in Galveston celebrated after the announcement. The following year, freedmen in Texas organized the first of what became the annual celebration of "Jubilee Day" on June 19. Early celebrations were used as political rallies to give voting instructions to newly freed slaves. Early independence celebrations often occurred on January 1 or 4.
At the inception of Juneteenth, little interest existed outside the African American community in participation in the celebrations. Particularly in the former Confederacy there was often outward resistance to it such as barring the use of public property for the festivities. Most of the early festivals were held in outlying rural areas near rivers or creeks that could provide for additional activities such as fishing, horseback riding and barbecues. There are numerous accounts of Juneteenth activities being interrupted and halted by white landowners and businessmen demanding that their laborers return to work. But overall, it seems most white landowners allowed their workers the day off and some even made donations of food and money.
As blacks began to urbanize they were still barred from using public parks because of Jim Crow laws mandating segregated facilities. Soon church grounds became the site for most activities. Eventually, as more African Americans became land owners, land was donated and dedicated to Juneteenth festivities. One of the earliest documented land purchases in the name of Juneteenth was organized by Rev. Jack Yates. This fund-raising effort yielded $1000 and made possible the purchase of Emancipation Park in Houston, Texas. In Mexia, the local Juneteenth organization purchased Booker T. Washington Park, which had become the Juneteenth celebration site in 1898.
.
Juneteenth day was first officially celebrated in the city of Austin in 1867 under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau, and it had been listed on a "calendar of public events" by 1872. That year black leaders in Texas raised $1,000 for the purchase of 10 acres of land to celebrate Juneteenth, today known as Houston's Emancipation Park, the oldest park in Texas. Later during the Jim Crow period it was the sole public park available to African-Americans. The Juneteenth observation at Emancipation Park was soon drawing thousands of attendees across Texas. Culminating in 1898 with an estimated 30,000 black people celebrated at Booker T. Washington Park in Limestone County, Texas, for Juneteenth celebrations.
Eventually economic and cultural forces led to a decline in Juneteenth activities and participants beginning in the early 1900’s. Classroom and textbook education stifled the interest of the young African-Americans due to less emphasis and detail on the lives of former slaves. Classroom textbooks proclaimed Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863 as the date signaling the ending of slavery and mentioned little or nothing of the impact of General Granger’s arrival on June 19th.
The Depression forced many people off the farms and into the cities to find work. In these urban environments, employers were less eager to grant leaves to celebrate this date. Thus, unless June 19th fell on a weekend or holiday, there were very few participants available.
The Civil Rights movement of the 50’s and 60’s yielded reenergized Juneteenth celebrations. Many African American youth fighting in the struggle for racial equality, linked these struggles to the historical struggles of their ancestors. Student demonstrators involved in the Atlanta civil rights campaign in the early
1960’s who wore Juneteenth freedom buttons. Again in 1968, Juneteenth received another strong resurgence through the Poor Peoples March to Washington D.C. Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s call for people of all races, creeds, economic levels and professions to come to Washington to show support for the poor. Many of these attendees returned home and initiated Juneteenth celebrations in areas previously absent of such activities. In fact, two of the largest Juneteenth celebrations founded after this March are now held in Milwaukee and Minneapolis.
In the late 1970s the Texas Legislature declared Juneteenth a "holiday of significance [...] particularly to the blacks of Texas". Texas was the first state to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday under legislation introduced by freshman Democratic state representative Al Edwards. The law passed through the Texas Legislature in 1979 and was officially made a state holiday on January 1, 1980. Juneteenth is a "partial staffing" holiday in Texas; government offices do not close but agencies may operate with reduced staff, and employees may either celebrate this holiday or substitute it with one of four "optional holidays" recognized by Texas. By the late 1980s there were major celebrations of Juneteenth in California, Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia, and Washington, D.C.
In 1996 the first legislation to recognize "Juneteenth Independence Day" was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.J. Res. 195, sponsored by Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI). In 1997 Congress recognized the day through Senate Joint Resolution 11 and House Joint Resolution 56. In 2013 the U.S. Senate passed Senate Resolution 175, acknowledging Lula Briggs Galloway (late president of the National Association of Juneteenth Lineage) who "successfully worked to bring national recognition to Juneteenth Independence Day", and the continued leadership of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.
.
Activists are pushing Congress to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. Organizations such as the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation are seeking a Congressional designation of Juneteenth as a national day of observance. And this year, governors of Virginia and New York both signed an executive order recognizing Juneteenth as a paid day of leave for state employees.
Juneteenth honors the final emancipation of slavery in the continental United States. It is a celebration that is woven into the American experience and is part of the fabric of America. Today we all honor the sacrifices of Americans who were never compensated for their labor as they built this great land. June 19th is Juneteenth day, welcome to the celebration!
Sources
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News round up by dopper0189, Black Kos Managing Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Momentum is growing in Mississippi to remove the Confederate battle emblem — long decried as a symbol of racism and violence — from the official flag of the state, the last to display the Confederate design within its own ensign. But the proposed replacement is causing friction within the group of activists pushing for change.
Last week, a bipartisan group of Mississippi lawmakers quietly began drafting legislation to change the state flag, the first time the issue has been addressed seriously since 2001. That year, constituents voted two to one in a ballot measure to keep the flag as is.
Despite the failed attempt nearly 20 years ago, one activist, Jarrius Adams, is hopeful that this time will be different. After all, at just 22 years old, Adams was a child in 2001, and so were many other young progressives like himself.
For some, the inclusion of the Confederate symbol in the flag is a nod to the state's history and tradition. But for many in Mississippi, the state with the highest percentage of black Americans, it's a symbol of racism, hatred and violence.
"I love my state, it's just that my state doesn't always love me back," Adams said.
An online petition to change the flag had received more than 140,000 signatures by Monday afternoon.
"Myself, and so many other people my age, can't be black or an activist and be silent on Confederate symbols such as the flag," Adams said. "For so many people it represents this history that was not welcoming of our community, not inclusive, and in many cases just disregarded the contributions that our people have made to Mississippi and the nation."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Democrats and Republicans have very different views about how much discrimination various demographic groups face in American society. That disagreement underlies virtually everything happening in American politics today, from the discussions about race and policing in the wake of George’s Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police to the 2020 presidential election.
We wrote about these differing perceptions near the start of President Trump’s term in 2017. Those perceptions have not changed that much, but we felt like these questions of discrimination are more relevant than ever, with Trump running for a second term and the country rethinking its racial policies in the wake of Floyd’s death.
Here are some recent findings about perceptions of discrimination and perceptions of various groups in American society, based on recent polling from the Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape project.1 The survey we relied on was administered after Floyd’s death, from May 28 to June 3, but previous sets of polls from Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape had similar results — except for shifts in responses to questions about black people and policing, as we explain below.
Perceptions of discrimination differ across party
An overwhelming majority of Democrats thought black and Muslim Americans face “a great deal” or “a lot” of discrimination in America today, as opposed to “a moderate amount,” “little” or “none at all.” Perceptions of discrimination against black people have surged among all groups, including Republicans, in the wake of Floyd’s death. But the vast majority of Democrats thought that black people in America faced high levels of discrimination even before Floyd’s death.2 About half of Democrats also thought women face a lot of discrimination.3
Very few Democrats thought that Christians, men or white people face high levels of discrimination in America.
In contrast, only about half of Republicans thought that black people and Muslims face high levels of discrimination, and only about a quarter thought that women do. The majority of Republicans thought those groups face “a moderate amount,” “little” or “no” discrimination at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In June 2014, Time magazine featured Laverne Cox, star of Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, on a cover that proclaimed America’s “Transgender Tipping Point”. Cox, a black transgender actor, was at the forefront of a wave of mainstream media depictions of transgender people, from the critically acclaimed Amazon series Transparent, to the bestselling memoir by Janet Mock, to fashion campaigns by the likes of Barneys featuring transgender models. In the six years since Cox’s Time cover, mainstream depictions of trans or non-conforming gender have proliferated – there’s Hunter Schafer in the HBO coming-of-age drama Euphoria, the non-binary character Taylor Mason on Showtime’s Billions and the Netflix show Pose, set in the ballroom scene of 1980s New York.
But while mainstream visibility is welcome and influential, especially for as historically marginalized a community as transgender people, one should be wary of celebrating representation in which “a few people are elevated and the majority of people are still struggling”, Cox says in Disclosure, a Netflix documentary she executive produced on the history of transgender representation in American media.
“My own life is such a profound example of what representation can do,” Cox told the Guardian, noting countless stories of trans people she’s met who transitioned, or came out to friends and family, or decided to stop living stealth, after seeing her character on Orange is the New Black. But in the same context, “trans people have experienced unprecedented levels of violence, and this legislative assault in state legislatures and on a federal level that is unprecedented”.
.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department has launched an excessive force investigation after video appearing to show a deputy kicking a man in the back went viral.
According to the Instagram post, the man in the video was "minding his business" after a Sunday brunch when he found himself surrounded by Sacramento police officers and sheriff's deputies.
"Can you please tell me what's going on then?" a woman is heard saying.
"He has a warrant for his arrest," an unidentified officer claimed. "That's all I'm going to tell you."
Sheriff's Sgt. Tess Deterding told ABC10 that the department takes all use-of-force incidents seriously. Still, Deterding admitted the video raises some concern.
"Are there some things that I think we could all agree are concerning at first sight," Deterding said. "I think that it's hard to judge something based a video in and of itself. That's why it's important to gather all the facts."
The Instagram post reveals the officers later determined they had the wrong guy. He allegedly did not have a felony warrant at all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Western governments have long debated whether the costs of intervening in dangerous parts of the world exceed the risks. In February the United States signed a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan. But just as America extricates itself from one conflict, a power vacuum in Africa’s Sahel may drag it into another.
The Sahel, a semi-arid strip south of the Sahara desert spanning 4,000 miles (6,400km), is unusually troubled. Its hinterlands are far from any city and mainly populated by nomads. The state’s writ does not hold; public services barely exist. The Sahel’s borderlands have long been dangerous: just 3.5% of the population of north and west Africa lives within 10km of an international frontier, but 10% of deaths from armed violence occurred in these areas between 1997 and 2019.
Jihadists are now entrenching themselves in ungoverned spaces. After Islamic State was ousted from the Middle East, it began to regroup in the Sahel. At times it has co-operated with al-Qaeda; at others, the two groups have clashed. To sow terror and conquer territory, the jihadists have committed atrocities, such as murdering a mentally disabled man, hiding a bomb on his corpse and blowing up 17 mourners at his funeral. Some 4,800 people died in battles or acts of terror in 2019, a six-fold increase on 2016. Another 3,900 have died so far this year.
The recent surge in conflict cannot be attributed to Islamists alone. Ethnic militias, such as Dan Na Ambassagou (“hunters who trust in God”) and Koglweogo (“guardians of the bush”), have been involved in 17% of deaths since January 2019. The governments of Mali and Burkina Faso have allegedly helped arm the groups so that they can protect civilians. In practice, the groups are mostly killing Fulanis, a largely Muslim minority. That has led some Fulanis to join the jihadists or to form their own militias. The killing has displaced 1.7m people across the central Sahel. In 2020 an average of 3,000 people a day have fled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Student Eden Armando Bebari, 19, was allegedly shot and killed by Indonesian security forces while fishing in his home town in West Papua in April.
Indonesian media described Bebari as a member of an armed criminal group, a claim denied by his parents. Many residents in Papua, the eastern-most province of Indonesia, now fish and tend crops to ease food shortages brought about by coronavirus lockdowns.
The Indonesian military say they are investigating Bebari’s death. But it went largely unnoticed at the time, except among friends and family. However, when protests over the killing of George Floyd while being detained by police reverberated around the globe, Bebari’s friends took action.
“I felt agitated. But I didn’t dare to speak out at that time. I was afraid. So I kept it [in],” says Benedicta Sari Vita Suwanto, 20, a classmate of Bebari’s at Multimedia Nusantara University in Banten. “There was no official condolence [at the university],” she adds.
Suwanto and her classmates tweeted about Bebari’s death, using the hashtag #PapuanLivesMatter. The tweet went viral, focusing attention throughout Indonesia to allegations of brutality by the police, military and security forces towards West Papuans.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY’S PORCH
IF YOU ARE NEW TO THE BLACK KOS COMMUNITY, GRAB A SEAT, SOME CYBER EATS, RELAX, AND INTRODUCE YOURSELF.