Juneteenth: Celebrating freedom

 Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865,

which is when enslaved Black people in Texas were told

that slavery had been abolished.

  …  

By the time enslaved people in Galveston, Texas,

were told by Union Major General Gordon Granger

that they were free on June 19, 1865,

they were some of the last enslaved people to be informed.

It had been two months since the Civil War ended.

 -Excerpted from dictionary.com

...

This week I’ve been bumping into things that remind me that for far too long in our country, Black lives have not mattered.  It is way past the time for that fact to be turned around.

My heart breaks about things that I do not understand, nor have even a smidge of control.  I cannot begin to comprehend all the factors that come together in the killing of a person of color - just because of that color.  I cannot imagine the fear that must be just below the surface for them.  I barely understand what Juneteenth is about, but I try to learn a little bit more each year. 

...

Of course, these issues are not simple nor are they limited to skin color.  I also fail to understand how we can send astronauts to live on the ISS, but we can’t figure out how to keep children safe in school.  Thinking about the conditions in Ukraine and Gaza just make me shudder.  

What can we do?

How should we feel?

What should we think?

Though my attempts feel terribly small, I have at least begun taking steps - to listen, to read, to recognize the huge gaps in my understanding and to start filling some of those gaps with learning and compassion and respect.

Four years ago my daughter penned these lines about starting to celebrate Juneteenth.   Her words are helping me.

My first Juneteenth

by Stacy Brown

My heart is heavy today.

This is my first Juneteenth.

I wasn't taught about this in school.

I didn't hear about this in church.

I didn't grow up discussing this with friends.

My ignorance wasn't all my fault,

but it's all my responsibility to fix it.

Someday I'll celebrate Juneteenth,

but this year I'm starting

with humbly and solemnly honoring it:

Mourning so many horrors, of past and present,

that white washed history has swept under the rug, 

acknowledging my own ignorance and bias,

and committing to doing whatever I can to do better going forward.

Today is my first Juneteenth.

It won't be my last.