Juneteenth Freedom Day

Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Black Independence Day, Jubilee Day, Officially Juneteenth National Independence Day are some of the other names for Juneteenth. On June 19th, 1865 the United States moved a step closer, as a nation, to honor the words written in the U.S. Constitution about all men being created equal. To Fredrick Douglass and his abolitionist colleagues, Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation wasn't passing the truth test. When the truth about the Emancipation Proclamation was known it became clear the document completely overlooked all of the slaves in friendly northern states so: what to the northern slaves was the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19th, 1865? 

Not much, and especially not a document of freedom for the slaves in friendly union states. By the end of that year (1865) that oversight would be remedied with the passage of the 13th Amendment, and the following year, 1866, on the one-year anniversary of General Gordon Granger's reading of General Order No. 3 the first official Juneteenth Celebration was held. This time ex-slaves, north and south, could participate in the freedom celebration because it was the 13th amendment that abolished slavery everywhere throughout the United States. 

The following year in June congress would pass the 14th amendment, which was ratified in July 1868. The 14th amendment made the ex-slaves citizens of this nation they had sacrificed their African identities for and toiled as slaves for more than 400 years. In my opinion, the most important part of the 14th amendment is the equal protection under the law the 14th amendment gave to the ex-slaves and their descendants.

The 14th amendment did much to help form the more perfect union referred to in the constitution and the reason I believe Juneteenth is the true National Independence Day. When asked to speak at a 4th of July celebration Frederick Douglass asked in his speech: what to the slave is the 4th of July? Because not only were the enslaved Americans not free at that 4th of July celebration, celebrating freedom from British rule, those same slaves were not considered citizens of the nation so many had fought and died for in the colonial war.

The 13th amendment made it possible for blacks and whites to celebrate a national independence day. Freedom from British Rule and Freedom from slavery, reduced down to its lowest denominator, freedom. The name chose for that new National Independence Day was Juneteenth. That is how all of the above appears to me anyway.

Slavery needs to be talked about in our schools, up to and including the end of slavery because the slave trade was a big part of American History, in much the same way slavery was part of Roman and British history as well as dozens of other world powers. New and better school textbooks are needed, more detailed than the textbooks I had in school along with teachers willing to teach history the way American history really was. Juneteenth and its rise to a national holiday should also be included along with the people and politics to make it happen because while Juneteenth is now a federally recognized National Holiday it is still illegal to teach about Juneteenth in more than a dozen states.

Juneteenth 2021 The First

The Juneteenth 2021 Celebration will be a little different from all of the other Juneteenth celebrations that have happened before now because the year 2021 celebration will be the first time Juneteenth is celebrated as a national holiday. Just like the years of hard work, dedication, and prayers that led to ending slavery in the United States, the years of hard work, dedication, and prayers to make Juneteenth a national holiday have finally become a realization. 

Only, unlike the news about the Emancipation Proclamation, that was withheld from the slaves in the southern U.S. for two years, notification of Juneteenth reaching national holiday status was instant, given today's technology, catching many people, myself included, off guard. Talk about making Juneteenth a federal holiday had been going on ever since I first became aware that the juneteenth celebration existed.

To be perfectly honest I had started to believe that because of today's highly polarized political climate debate in Washington DC about making Juneteenth a national holiday would once more be batted around and once more tabled, tossed aside, forgotten. News of President Joe Biden finally signing the Juneteenth Celebration into the history books came as a total surprise.

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And the name Juneteenth National Independence Day has a nice ring to it since on July 4, 1776 the majority of black people living in the colonies were still slaves and not considered citizens of the same nation they fought for in the colonial war, and in the Civil War. June 19th, 1865 was the date that freedom for African American people in the United States began followed by the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery everywhere in the U.S., and the 14th Amendment granting citizenship rights and equal protection under the law to the ex-slaves.

I would love to have been able to learn the above historical facts when I was in grammar and Jr. high school. When I was in grade-school I had no ideas about a Juneteenth celebration. My parents (from Louisiana and Texas) seemed more interested in forgetting about their life experinces growing up in the Jim Crow south than sharing them.

For the sake of the African Ancestors, the history of slavery in this nation should not be forgotten. It (slavery) did after all happen, and African American people in this country have suffered from the end of slavery aftereffects since June, 19th 1865, and the so-called re-construction period. For the naysayers who might think that learning about slavery might evoke too many unflattering images of the way some white people used to treat black people, I say this would be an excellent opportunity to learn about all of the white people that did not support slavery and the contributions they made that would eventually bring slavery to an end in the U.S. 

Juneteenth is truly a National Independence Day because what started on that day and ended with the passage of the 13th Amendment did make that a day of freedom for the entire nation and the words in the constitution finally true for everyone, that all men were created equal and treated equally under the law.

 
 

The African Ancestors

The blessings of the ancestors are greater than those of living human beings. It's important to remember that as you do for your ancestors, your children will do for you. Slavery created countless forgotten family memories for the African Americans whose families had been pulled apart, with family members scattered by the wind. The end of slavery in the United States did very little to mend the African American family. 

 

Families could still be separated by circumstance because newly freed slaves hand nothing. The Freedmen's Bureau was set up to assist the ex-slaves but it did not work. Most slaves ended up returning to their former masters as laborers and sharecroppers in an agreement that almost guaranteed their ability not to prosper. The system former slave owners set up meant most sharecroppers could work the entire year and still end up owing most if not all of their money to the former slave owner.

 

When I think about the African ancestors, I end up feeling that in spite of the fact they were no longer amongst the living they were the lucky ones. Those who chose to be drowned rather than be carried away from home and into the unknown, and all of the drowned slaves, who through no choice of their own, were purposefully drowned because of sickness or to prevent a slave ship captain from being caught with slaves on board his vessel during a surprise boarding by the British or American governments, tasked with maintaining a blockade to prevent new slaves from being shipped to America. 

 

African and African American ancestor's souls, that had long since found their way back to the motherland were spared the days of slavery in the U.S., and even though we do not speak the language of our ancestors, hundreds of years later African Americans today can still feel the unwelcome heat of racism the ancestors learned to live with. Everything that made our African ancestors unique in their clothing, their language, their religion, and their families were taken from them upon arrival in the United States.

 

Out of that social and cultural deprivation for colored people associated with slavery in the United States came today’s modern-day Americans of African descent, like me, that honor our ancestors with events like the Juneteenth Celebration. In the African world and cosmological view of life, the ancestors are forever alive. It is said that the ancestors do things like connect Africans to their beloved ones, bless their fertility, even intervene when there is a spiritual blockage or polluting elements that threaten happiness, order, health, and life.

Our African slave ancestors came from a continent that consisted of a mixture of countries and various tribes that each possessed their own unique characteristics which in my opinion, is not only worth celebrating but worth studying as well. While I have not yet gone to African Ancestry and submitted any DNA to be traced back to the continent of Africa I have for a long time been able to trace my family roots back to the state of Texas, the birthplace of the Juneteenth Celebration and the home of many of the ancestors I celebrate. 

Should the History of Slavery be Taught in school?

Should the history of slavery be taught in school is the question this post poses, an idea that came to me after reading a recent news report that said some politicians were trying to ban the teaching of the history of slavery in the classroom. It is my belief that studying history can help with making better decisions and judgments. History teaches us all how to learn from our mistakes (there is no success like failure:-) History shows us models of good and bad citizenship and helps us understand societal development and change. There is even some evidence that history not learned will be repeated. 

When I was in school, I would have loved to learn about how the first generation of former slaves was able to complete far fewer years of schooling, on average, than white students. In fact, it would be years later when I would realize that the school life I knew growing up in the 60s out here on the west coast was nothing like the school life my mother's sharecropping family experience in the deep south. While gathering information from my mother to ghostwrite her book that a stroke took away her ability to do, I learned that her sharecropper family wasn't allowed schooling during the harvest season.

In a lot of ways, sharecropping replaced slavery when it came to oppressing African American education, and no matter how hard a sharecropper family worked during the year the average sharecropper family usually ended up owing more than they earned each season. Regular schools in the south in the 60s believed that separate but equal was an education plan that worked best. For most African Americans that plan led to a qualitatively inferior education. The history of which, in the 1960s brought about social change that put a spotlight on the fact that separate was not equal when it came to education.

How soon should children be taught about slavery? For a subject some want to avoid altogether I would say at the age of 5, with child-friendly images that are not graphic but honest to the experience of slavery. A history where the better angels of humanity destroyed slavery in the U.S. only helps us develop a better understanding of the world in which we live, and to me, that is a big plus. Especially if we could now turn that energy that destroyed slavery toward the new enemy of racism.

The reason we need to learn about slavery in school is the history of slavery is part of American History that can help young minds be better equipped to deal with dilemmas and complex questions that their own children may ask one day, and to determine how our past in the shape of monuments, flags, and long-held beliefs still shapes local, national, and global relationships between people and societies.

Building a better knowledge of Black History, including slavery,  that leads to understanding the events and trends that have brought us from the end of slavery in the United States to where we are today is the best way to safeguard freedom and ensure the words of the constitution that read all men are created equal.

 

The Reasons for the Civil War

The Civil War was fought for several different reasons, the south fought to preserve a way of life that included slavery. In the north, Lincoln said that his main reason for entering into the war between the states was to preserve the union of states. Abolitionist, and escaped slave, Frederick Douglass wanted black troops to be allowed to fight for the freedom of the slaves everywhere in the United States, which back in the day existed mostly east of the Mississippi River.

As settlements and territories began to open up west of the Mississippi the south was unhappy about the fact they might not be allowed to expand slavery into the new territories, tired of restrictions against their expansion the south chose to fight it out. The north, or at least Lincoln's philosophy seems to have been tempered, rather than go for the abolishment of slavery, go for restricting the expansion of slavery into the new territories. Both of these views were abrasive to Frederick Douglass's ideas about ending slavery once and for all.

All through his life, Douglass had faced challenges living life as an escaped slave himself. He knew the injustices suffered by black people living in a nation where they were not treated equally, unable to vote, unable to live free of slavery's laws, and not even considered citizens of the union he was willing to fight for. So while Douglass chose the straightforward abolishment of slavery now! Abraham Lincoln was faced with his own unique set of challenges.

Lincoln's rise to the presidency was looked upon by the south as a bad omen. Imagine taking over as president and your first order of business is Civil War. For the new president, Abraham Lincoln, it was pretty much all downhill from there. In his inauguration speech, a nation's ears waited for their telegraphs and newspapers to get some idea what was on the new president's mind with regard to the firestorm he had just walked into. Like all presidents, I'm sure he realized that whatever he said would not please everyone.

On his desk already was news that most of this nations graduating class of military cadets were leaving to fight with the south. Southern forces had taken control of Fort Sumpter, and one after the other states were seceding from the union at a rate that no one knew where it would all end. On the campaign trail, most of Lincoln's conversations with Fredric Douglass had been positive and offered some promise, where Douglass' all or nothing approach to the end of slavery, and Lincoln's more measured approach was concerned.

However, listening to Lincoln's inauguration speech Douglass became in-raged and convinced that Lincoln had totally capitulated to the south. Listening to words from Lincoln that if he could preserve the Union without freeing one slave he would do it. He listened as the candidate he had supported ensured southern lawmakers that slavery was not the true issue of his drive to retaliate against the south, even going so far as to assure southern lawmakers that he intended to assist southern slave chasers in search of runaway southern property, slaves.

Frederic Douglass' Sunday declarations each afternoon at Zion Church on Spring Street, in Rochester, spoke about black involvement in the Civil War. He preached to his black audience "Let us not only be ready on call but casting about for and opportunity to strike for the rights of human nature and the freedom of the slaves."
 Black troops did indeed put on the union uniform and participate in the Civil War and for those soldiers, their freedom was not simply given to them. They fought for the right to be free and for the ending of slavery in this nation.

As a boat captain myself, I enjoyed reading about black Civil War Hero, Robert Smalls,  the black man that stole a confederate warship and delivered it to Union forces, while a the same time freeing his family and several others from slavery. The Union navy made Robert Smalls its first black U.S. ship's captain, but since he was never commissioned, he served in all of his battle engagements and skirmishes as a Union ship captain, as a civilian. 

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation had both good and bad in it as far as

Fredrick Douglass was concerned. The number of people attending Douglass's talk at the Zion Church in Rochester had swelled to the point a larger location was needed. His words of defiance and encouragement from his talks and his monthly newspaper mixed with the words in Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was the spark that was needed by hundreds of free colored men, and some slaves, who wanted to fight. 

Douglass was disappointed that the proclamation didn't go far enough, the document did not free the slaves in friendly northern states. In the end, the south lost its bid to preserve and extend slavery's empire. The north was victorious in preserving the union of states and reclaiming all of the forts, and territories taken from them by the confederate states. Frederick Douglass's drive to have colored troops among those fighting to preserve the Union was successful. 

Some 180,000 black soldiers and sailors fought for the Union and of the total colored troop participation, 40,000 would make the ultimate sacrifice fighting in the Civil War. The loss of life would include about 10,000 who would die in combat with another 30,000 colored troops that would die from infection and disease.  

Celebrating Juneteenth at Home

 Celebrating Juneteenth at home

In these Covid-19 crazy days depending on what area of the U.S. you're in gathering in large groups may still be on a shelter in place basis. Juneteenth is celebrated in black communities throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. Juneteenth had been celebrated on a regular basis until the coronavirus happened. This past year most outdoor large-scale gatherings for the Juneteenth holiday were canceled, and several went virtual.

The drive continues to make the Juneteenth celebration a national holiday, but this year I am encouraging a stay-at-home Juneteenth celebration if a large gathering Juneteenth celebration is forbidden in your area. A Juneteenth celebration for family and friends with red-velvet cake, and strawberry soda, or whatever red food you choose. For those of you familiar with the Juneteenth celebration you know that red food and drink are very popular on Juneteenth.

Enjoying this day of freedom, the June 19th, 1865 day of independence for the slaves turned free people, and after the passage of the 14th Amendment, a citizen of this nation with equal protection under the law. We celebrate Juneteenth for all of the ancestors who lived and died, praying for a day of freedom they would never see. It's too bad racism didn't end when slavery did, and while the racism itself might not have come as a surprise to our ancestors the fact that racism is growing in this day and age rather than subsiding might surely have held some surprise.

But as the ancestors' dealt with slavery and racism, today their descendants the African American people of today are left only to contend with racism. Like the Africans, African Americans, and the abolitionist worked together to bring slavery to an end, that work, and us African American, abolitionist, and politicians now needed to gather those same energies to combat racism. So to me, Juneteenth is both a poignant reminder of the past and a way to remind us all, on each June 19th, that because of racism there is still much work that needs to be done organizing and creating opportunities for all those that racism is hurting.

If you've ever attended a Juneteenth celebration then I don't need to tell you that a Juneteenth celebration at home can not be compared to the food, drink, community, and excitement an outdoor festival style Juneteenth celebration can offer. But it can offer family and friends tired of sheltering in place a way to gather and a chance to honor all the ancestors before us and with good food and drink, family and friends make June 19th, 1865 a day worth remembering and celebrating.

Heroes of the Colored Race

 Back in 1865, the heroes of the colored race were black, white, northerners and southerners who not only championed the cause of freedom for all but in many cases took the extra step to make emancipation happen for some slaves. Many of these heroes worked tirelessly to change the laws associated with slavery and to assist slaves brave enough to purchase their freedom with their life and self emancipate (runaway) on their own. 

It was these heroes who set up and ran the underground railroad, an illegal operation until no longer needed in 1865. Paperwork related to the operation of the underground railroad was well guarded and hidden because to be caught with such records could have meant the loss of your freedom, property, and in some cases your life, especially if you were a black abolitionist.

The Underground Railroad

William Still did manage to maintain the written record of his work on the underground railroad, not only to chronicle the exploits of the runaway slave but in the hope of someday being able to reunite black families torn apart by slavery the way his own family had been separated by the rules of slavery a long time ago.

In fact, one of the runaway slaves that would come William Still's way during his work on the clandestine underground railroad would turn out to be his own brother Peter Still.

Thomas Garrett, a white abolitionist, whose religious-driven antislavery belief had him working on the underground railroad, another hero of the colored race during the days of slavery in this nation. The secret written records Garrett kept would show that he had helped more than twenty-one-hundred slaves escape to freedom. Thomas Garrett was one of the people who were overjoyed about the Juneteenth Day Celebration and the end of slavery in the south.

Garret was hoisted upon the shoulders of a crowd of jubilant black men and carried through the streets of Wilmington Delaware in celebration of the passage of the 15th Amendment, he was carried along by those who saw him as a hero of the colored race. Thomas Garrett was recognized for his work on the underground railroad, his commitment to, and the work within his own community to combat slavery.  

The black history heroes list is long and almost always includes abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, the list of unsung heroes I would say is just as long. My hope is that each and every one of the stories associated with the heroes of the colored race will find its way into a manuscript and into a book,  I love reading about this stuff especially keeping in mind today's African American heroes, like our first black female vice-president Kamala Harris.

 

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