The Juneteenth Fact Sheet

 

I made a Juneteenth Fact Sheet for the Juneteenth beginner so that at a glance you can instantly be brought up to date about the oldest American African celebration in this nation. This is also the oldest celebration of the end of slavery in this land for the antislavery faction, the black and white abolitionists who took up the cause and saw it through to the end, June 19th, 1865. And, as I point out in my Juneteenth Handbook just like the Israelites established the Passover to celebrate their deliverance from bondage our newly freed slave ancestors did the same and called their day of deliverance, Juneteenth.

I say that Juneteenth is also about family because for hundreds of years Africans, born in Africa, and the descendants of Africans, born in the Americas, had little to no control over their family unit. It was a rare occasion when one family could live and stay together under one roof and not have to live in fear of having a family member sold off for profit or punishment. Juneteenth meant more than just the end of slavery. It also meant the beginning of American African families, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, being able to stay together.

To me, that single fact about family is also worth an Independence Day celebration to be celebrated with the entire family. That would be the ideal, anyway, the reality is that today families who have way more control over when and where to see each other are just as spread out as they once were and the invention of all of our modern gadgets cellphones, computers, laptops, tablets can provide their own challenges even when a family can gather.

My grandkids who constantly amaze me with their knowledge of video games, and computers, have never seen a phonebooth, don't know how to dial a rotary telephone, and call the 45rpm records I used to make when I lived my life as a musician, big CDs. When it comes to the Juneteenth Celebration's connection to the family, I think about all of the things we take for granted nowadays, when it comes to celebrating Juneteenth and try to remember the ancestor's family pulled apart from them until a day of celebration became just another reminder of the husband, wife, son, or daughter who was no longer there.

I was celebrating Juneteenth long before it became a federal holiday and because my family was a lot younger and smaller back then my first Juneteenth experience was a family experience. My learning about the Juneteenth Celebration went into hyper-drive after that and along the way, the family aspect of this celebration stuck out to me. Not only did June 19th, but signal the downfall of slavery in this country it also signaled a new beginning for the American African family. That is why my new Juneteenth Fact Sheet contains the image of a family.

The Juneteenth Fact Sheet is available on my Juneteenth Handbook website and my Juneteenth Pinterest location as well as my Juneteenth Day 1, Blog. Keep in mind for this coming 2022 Juneteenth Celebration will represent a history-making event in much the same way June 19th, 1866 did when it became the first official Juneteenth Celebration on the first one-year anniversary of June 19th, 1865. June 19th, 2022 will be the first one-year anniversary of the Juneteenth Celebration becoming a federal holiday.