Honoring Juneteenth By Asserting the Freedom Read

On June 19, 1865, Union troops delivered the news to enslaved people
in Galveston, TX, that they were free. But this "news"
wasn't exactly new. President Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation officially conferred their freedom on January 1, 1863,
reinforced by a Confederate surrender in April 1865. A crucial element
of the Juneteenth story is that for nearly 30 months, the white
supremacists who held all political and economic power in the South
withheld information that could empower and animate the enslaved
Blacks on whose subordination their way of life relied. It was a
powerful and effective strategy while it lasted: The less they know,
the less they'll dream. 

It was so powerful, in fact, that white supremacist heirs to the
Confederate legacy are reprising it in today's book bans. Under
the guise of protecting children from "inappropriate"
content that might make them uncomfortable, those with economic and
political power seek to preserve the current order by preventing
Black, Brown, LGBTQIA+, and other marginalized children from seeing
themselves as agents in their own lives and in our common history.
Numerous jurisdictions have banned books in schools and libraries
like... 

* Counting on Katherine: How Katherine Johnson saved Apollo 13,
which recounts how a Black woman Katherine Johnson became an
accomplished mathematician and played an integral role in the
early space program 
* Discovering Wes Moore, the current Maryland governor's
autobiographical account of two fatherless boys named Wes
Moore-himself and another Wes Moore from the same
Baltimore neighborhood who is serving a life sentence for
murder 
* Something Happened in Our Town, which follows two families
- one white, one Black - as they discuss a police
shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to
answer children's questions about such traumatic events, and to
help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own
lives. 

These are just three of the 4,240 unique book titles the American
Library Association (ALA) reports were targeted for removal from
schools and libraries in 2023-a 65 percent surge in titles over
2022 and the high-water mark in the ALA's 20+ years of tracking.
Not surprisingly, nearly half of those titles represent the voices and
lived experiences of Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA+ people.  

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The CDF Freedom Schools program stands as a pillar of resistance to
this movement to silence voices and erase history. The 100+ titles
selected each year for the CDF Freedom Schools curriculum--including
the three titles above for 2024-widen the lens of those who have
contributed to American history in significant ways. They also provide
mirrors on experiences similar to their own that validate young
readers and connect them with their own power to make change. This
year, CDF will dedicate its annual National Day of Social Action to
protecting the freedom to read. Each of the 200+ CDF Freedoms Schools
sites will lead local activities on July 17 to promote access to books
that reflect broader history and diverse life experiences. And on this
60th anniversary of the Mississippi Freedom Summer that inspired CDF
Freedom Schools into existence, CDF will also lead the 60 for 60
campaign for 60 authors and illustrators of books placed on
banned-book lists to participate in a morning Read-Aloud at local CDF
Freedom Schools sites across the nation. 

As we commemorate this Juneteenth, let's take time both to
celebrate and to remember how much work remains. May the spirit of
this holiday inspire all our vigilance against efforts that will
prevent young people from growing up with dignity, hope, and
joy. 

For our children,

Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson
President and CEO

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