Juneteenth—A National Holiday
By Justine Dunlap, Co-Editor
Last year I wrote a post about Juneteenth, the day in 1865 that enslaved persons in Texas finally learned of their freedom about 30 months after the fact. Free at last. A momentous day, indeed. Yet it was an under-recognized day outside of Texas.
Little did I think that one year later, I would be writing another post on the topic, marveling that June 19th is now a federal holiday. It seems fitting that it is the first federal holiday after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day became a holiday in 1983. I lived in Washington, DC at that time and remember hearing Kansas Senator and former Republican presidential candidate President Bob Dole speak positively about the bill passing both houses and being signed into law by conservative icon President Ronald Reagan.
The Dr. King Holiday bill passed the Senate by a vote of 78-22. The Juneteenth legislation passed the Senate unanimously. Who’d a thunk it? Surely not I, in these famously and bitterly divided partisan times. Will I take it? Yes. Am I happy that it occurred, taking a mere two years rather than the 15 or so that the King Holiday took? Yes. Do I think it heralds a new day of cooperation and consensus on issues of racial equity? No. But nonetheless, I am thankful that Congress did the right thing on this one.
I ended with this poem last year. It seems well worth including again.
“We Rose” by Kristina Kay Robinson
From Africa’s heart, we rose
Already a people, our faces ebon, our bodies lean,
We rose
Skills of art, life, beauty and family
Crushed by forces we knew nothing of, we rose
Survive we must, we did,
We rose
We rose to be you, we rose to be me,
Above everything expected, we rose
To become the knowledge we never knew,
We rose
Dream, we did
Act we must