Freedom…In Honor of Juneteenth

Freedom is what June 19th means to so many blacks in America, also known as Juneteenth.  On that day in 1865 The Union’s soldiers made their way to Texas and informed them that all slaves were declared free and that slavery was abolished.  While this information was nothing short of exciting and liberating, it came two and half years after it actually happened; Texas slaves were not informed of their freedom until June 19th of 1865!  Texas slavemasters were not for the abolishing of slavery and naturally were not eager to share this grave and life changing information with what they viewed as property, cattle, subhumans, and servants.

June of 2014 is when I learned of this information while living in Midland, Texas.  When locals asked if I was going to take part in the annual Juneteenth community celebration.  My initial response was, “What is Juneteenth?”  Growing up in San Diego, California I had never heard of this memorable day.  I was actually taken back because I thought it was a terrible thing to celebrate a day that Texas finally decided to comply with the rest of the nation.  In my eyes Juneteenth wasn’t a good day at all…why would I support anything that was done without good intentions!  Do you know all that can happen in TWO AND HALF YEARS…college degrees can be completed, babies can be born, a person’s body image can be transformed, military sailors-soldiers-marines-and airmen are created in a timeframe less than that.  I was really against it until I began thinking about all my culture have endured and put myself back in 1865 and visualized what my life would have been.  All I could think about is what I’ve experienced my entire life, rejection from all sides and how liberating it would be to hear it is over.

You see, white Americans call me a black woman (which I am) but black Americans call me white.  For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why until I thought back to 1865 and where I would be, I’d be considered a house worker, candy for men, fair enough to be on display for anyone traveling to and through the plantation; but I’d be considered a black slave none the less.  I’d even be called mulatto, a word originating from Spain that meant mule but was no doubt an offensive term given to people with one white parent and one black parent.  These houseworkers had a little more privilege but at the end of the day they were slaves like the rest of their people!  Some took this as status and they used it to demean those slaves that worked outside of the house and this bread contempt within.  This is where color-ism was birthed.  It’s where you hear the stories of light-skinned vs. dark-skinned.  It’s where some began rejecting houseworkers altogether and began viewing them as white and not black like themselves. So what did June 19th, 1865 bring…an END!  An end of the legality of it all and for that, I celebrate Juneteenth.  

It brought freedom but not without a price.  Families were continuously tortured, hunted down, forced to “black only” and “black owned” communities and like the prosperous people we are, we THRIVED.  When I hear the statement, “Get over it, slavery was a long time ago,” I want them to take a long look at the visible scars slavery left in the black community.  There is still color-ism to this day between the black community, light and dark skin.  Slavery supported and instituted absentee fathers and broken homes. Women were forced to take the lead of their families and be strong while hurting inside.  Some fathers were right there is the same house and never acknowledged their black child while they played with their white siblings, let that sink in.  Slaves were told they were less than human, forced to be uneducated, used for their size, strength, and ability.  These are all things we experience and still hear today!  Just like laws didn’t support nor apply to slaves, many laws today do not support the black community.  Redlining still exists, a practice that CBS News wrote about this year.  This practice is only one of many that involves banks not approving loans to people is certain communities forcing the majority of that population to remain renters instead of home owners.

So are we free…maybe physically, but for others, not emotionally nor mentally and it’s why our hearts and voices scream #BlackLivesMatter, because for so long, they haven’t.  

❤️✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿