HAPPY JUNETEENTH!
But the kids don’t know
HAPPY JUNETEENTH!
“Happy Juneteenth!” I said to our athletes. They politely smiled, thinly masking the confusion they didn’t want me to see. Behind their smiles was a look of “I heard of this ‘Juneteenth’ before, but I’m not quite sure what I’m supposed to be happy about.”
“Do y’all know what Juneteenth is a celebration of,” I asked these bright-eyed teenagers. I was a little disappointed when they awkwardly looked around at each other, waiting for someone else to answer. A couple of girls raised their hands. “Oh! Isn’t about slavery ending,” said the first girl. “Yeah, about the Emancipation Proclamation or something,” the other agreed.
“Yes, that’s what it’s about,” I replied. I gave the team a brief (as brief as a social sciences educator can give) historical synopsis of the Juneteenth holiday. By the end of my educational lesson, many athletes looked pleasantly refreshed, turning the edges of their mouths downward, raising their eyebrows, and gently nodding their heads—the universal nonverbal feedback most of us give after learning something new.
I was privileged to teach an African American Studies course at our high school a few years ago. The inclusion of the course came on the heels of the brief racial reconciliation our country accepted the months following the brutal death of George Floyd. Since then, however, community dog whistles and fabricated fears of CRT indoctrination quietly killed the course, and once again, a large portion of American history, like Juneteenth, is deliberately ignored.
So, I don’t blame the kids for not knowing how to respond to “Happy Juneteenth” when we’ve failed to teach them the basic premise of the new federal holiday and American history. We can and must do better.
More Juneteenth things:
You can read one of my favorite articles I wrote about the Juneteenth holiday back in 2018 here: “Celebrate Juneteenth Like July Fourth, but Better.”
One of my favorite albums/mixtapes I enjoy listening to on Juneteenth is Lecrae’s Church Clothes 3. You can listen to it here:
One of my favorite songs on Juneteenth is Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.” It's hard to believe the record is almost ten years old! You can listen to it here:
I’m sure there are plenty of activities you can participate in around your local area, but if you’re too shy or busy to get out, you can check out these digitally streamed celebrations:
Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom Documentary:
White House Juneteenth Celebration
‘The Pop Out: Ken & Friends’: Stream Free on June 19 at 4 p.m. PT/7 p.m . ET (Amazon Prime Video)
Hope you all have a safe and enjoyable Juneteenth holiday!