Today is Juneteenth, John.
It is a day to celebrate Black freedom. It's also a day to reflect on the ways freedom continues to be denied for Black people in the United States.
Juneteenth commemorates the day enslaved people of Galveston, Texas were told that they were free from slavery in 1865 — more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.
Today, it's worth questioning what freedom means.
On June 19, 1865, more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas were announced free by executive order.1
It was a day those enslaved in Galveston, Texas were told they were free. But it was not a day every enslaved person was freed.
Some white slaveowners ignored the order. Outside the city of Marshall, Katie Darling continued being enslaved for six years.2
Juneteenth celebrations began the year after the order was put into effect in 1866 and have continued to this day. In 1980, Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as a holiday. All 50 states and the DC now recognize the day in some form.3
But it wasn't until the summer of 2021 after the Black Lives Matter uprisings that Congress passed a bill for federal recognition of the holiday.4
Juneteenth is a day to reflect on the ways Black communities built and continue to build this country.
It is a day to reflect on the ways racism and white supremacy are deeply intertwined with U.S. systems.
It is a day to reflect on the ways slavery is still alive.
It is a day to reflect on the reparations that have not been made.
It is a day to recommit in the fight for Black liberation.
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This weekend, we’re buying Black and Black joy is being created across the country. Today and at all times, we’re learning and deepening our commitment to the work yet to be done.
In solidarity,
Team WFP
Sources:
1. FROM TEXAS: Important Orders by General Granger, New York Times, July 7, 1865
2. The Story of Katie Darling and the Complex Jubilation of Juneteenth, Jezebel, June 19, 2020
3. What Is Juneteenth?, PBS.org
4. Juneteenth: The History of a Holiday, New York Times, June 19, 2023
