You don’t know what Juneteenth is? No worries, mate, here’s your answer:
Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the 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. […]
The celebration of June 19th was coined “Juneteenth” and grew with more participation from descendants. The Juneteenth celebration was a time for reassuring each other, for praying and for gathering remaining family members. 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. […]
Throughout the 80’s and 90’s Juneteenth has continued to enjoy a growing and healthy interest from communities and organizations throughout the country. Institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Henry Ford Museum and others have begun sponsoring Juneteenth-centered activities. In recent years, a number of National Juneteenth Organizations have arisen to take their place along side older organizations – all with the mission to promote and cultivate knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture.
A good day to celebrate.
This is an Open thread.
It’s not a good day to celebrate, as the FISA bill promises a return to government oppression and tyranny.
Well, has the Senate passed the FISA bill Steny Hoyer rammed through the House?
Nevermind. See my story about reactions to the FISA compromise above.
I knew what Juneteenth is. You can’t live in Texas for eight years and not know what Juneteenth is.
To me, Juneteenth doesn’t sound like something that should be celebrated. Either the slave owners or the Union Army allowed thousands of slaves to remain in bondage long after they were legally freed. To me, this is a shameful day in American history, not one to be celebrated.
Well, it has a long tradition of being celebrated within the African American community. Technically, slaves were freed under the Emancipation proclamation only in the states that had rebelled, and unless the Union Army occupied those areas, no slaves could be effectively freed.
Of course slavery wasn’t completely ended in all the United States until the passing of the 13th Amendment.
Yay! Things really DO get better.
Obama launches first Ad for the General Election:
We are certainly living in interesting times.
EU to lift sanctions against Cuba
Kind of shocked to see this mentioned here. Liberal blogs (in general) don’t talk about stuff like this. Completely ignoring what KansasVoter said above, Juneteeth is HUGE. Many black people have their family reunions around a Juneteenth celebration. We have cards (thankfully, I no longer get those) and the parties are huge. Most liberals/Democrats/”progressives” say things like KansasVoter, dismissing and completely missing the point as to why this is big for a lot of black families.
Well, we need to do more on liberal blogs to educate those of us who are melanin deficient regarding cultural diversity. This was my small part of that process. I’m sure I fail at this a lot of other times.
That’s why it’s there, when I need to talk to other Democrats who understand and get what the educated person of color goes through, that’s where I go. Too often in the liberal blogosphere, our concerns are brushed off and ignored.
True.
Happy Juneteenth StevenD!