Juneteenth!

Anybody here celebrate or even know about it? I'm kind of surprised that most people have never heard of it.

Yay! Er, wait.

It is a great holiday and by default it makes me think as well of Ralph Ellison. Invisible Man came off Reserves today and that should have prompted me to think of what today was.

I really hope they were going South to North, rather than A to Z.

But seriously, folks: why isn't this a national holiday?

I'm from Virginia. It wasn't celebrated there, but I know about it somehow. I read a lot.

because white people don't really give much of a shit, that's why

Councilor urges state holiday marking end of slavery
By Kimberly Atkins
Boston Herald Reporter
Thursday, June 15, 2006 - Updated: 12:57 AM EST

City Councilor Charles Yancey wants a new state holiday marking Juneteenth Independence Day, marking the end of the last vestiges of slavery in the United States 141 years ago.
Yesterday the City Council passed Yancey’s nonbonding resolution urging state lawmakers to adopt the June 19 legal holiday statewide, joining 19 other states and the District of Columbia.
“We thought it was something the African-American community deserves,” Yancey’s spokesman Kenneth Yarbrough said.
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when in Galveston, Texas, Union Gen. Gordon Granger announced the freedom of all slaves in the Southwest region of the country, according to the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation’s Web site. The move came two years after the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln.
Yancey also blasted President Bush for declining to participate in the annual national Juneteenth observance in Washington.
“Every U.S. president, who has had the privilege to serve the people of the United States should recognize that forced, unpaid labor was used to build the White House and the Capitol,” Yancey said in a written statement.
Yarbrough said Yancey will send the resolution to members of the Black Legislative Caucus and other lawmakers on Beacon Hill to start the process of seeking a permanent recognition.
Thousands of petitions have been sent to the president seeking to make the occasion a national holiday. The date is also often used by activists seeking federal reparations for slavery to hold rallies and other events.

We had Robert Hayden, who writes books about black history, start off by talking about the history of the holiday. He asked the 40 score people there "What are we celebrating?"

That's the thing about the holiday -- it's bittersweet. It acknowledges that there were still people enslaved after the Emancipation Proclamation had supposedly set them free.

Making it national would just mean another flimsy excuse for BLOWOUT SALES EXTRAVAGANZAS

Besides, the day holds value for all Americans, not just the descendents of freed slaves. The reunification of the country, us as a nation finally ditching the abhorrent practice of slavery (within our own borders, at least).

but then lincoln's birthday isn't even a real holiday anymore, they replaced it with "presidents day" (like anyone was dying for a holiday commemorating warren g harding and rutherford b hayes). we'll probably get "confederate memorial day" before we get this.

I feel that so many US holidays have such a perfunctory feel to them, it's nice to see something "organic" thrive in pockets of the country and still have great meaning to those that celebrate.

It's not even a state holiday here (TX) but is well-celebrated. I celebrated by, uh, working. hard.

I was in because I'm hourly and not salaried.

I look forward to the arrival of Juneteenth holiday-themed M&Ms.

We're putting on a Juneteenth celebration today in cooperation with the local NAACP. I'm supposed to pick up drinks and haven't yet. I think about 50 people will come. How much water, juice, soda should I get?

This year we're making it more of a potluck food-oriented gathering. Last year we had speakers talking about history and everybody was getting antsy. There wasn't enough food or time for mingling. This year, people can bring a dish in lieu of the admission fee.

J -- Juneteenth represents the joy of freedom--the chance for a new beginning.

U -- Unless we expose the truth about the African-American slave experience, Americans won't be truly free.

N -- Never must we forget our ancestors' endurance of one of the worst slave experiences in human history.

E -- Every American has benefitted from the wealth blacks created through over 200 years of free labor and Juneteenth allows us to acknowledge that debt.

T -- To encourage every former slave-holding state to follow Texas' (and Oklahoma's) example and make Juneteenth a state holiday.

E -- Everyday in america, blacks are reminded of the legacy of slavery. Juneteenth counters that by reminding us of the promise of deliverance.

E -- Even on the journey to discover who we are, Juneteenth allows us to reflect on where we've been, where we're at and where we're going as a people.

N -- Never give up hope is the legacy our enslaved ancestors left. It was this legacy that produced black heroism in the Civil War and helped launch the modern civil rights era. It is this legacy we celebrate.

T -- To proclaim for all the world to hear, that human rights must never again become subservient to property rights.

H -- History books have only told a small part of the story; Juneteenth gives us a chance to set the record straight.

http://www.njclc.com/njclchistory.html

What a great celebration, yay!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6224538.stm

Well that could have happened at a farmer's market. Has nothing to do with the holiday.

It's today! This is Rufus's mom Maria posting as him. Maybe I'm a sap but I get teary-eyed when I read the words "jubilation" and "emancipation" and "free at last, free at last." I decorated the record store window for it.

RUFUS!!

LESS RACISM, MORE RUFUS

It's today

What is the traditional way to celebrate this auspicious day?

Reading Paula Deen for filth.

Thus

https://twitter.com/djbrainchild/status/347404444658442240

http://www.juneteenth.com/worldwide.htm

Alas, this list of events in all the US states is only useful if you can go back in time to 2011

http://www.galvestondailynews.com/lifestyle/leisure/article_8f142b4e-d899-11e2-9800-001a4bcf6878.html

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20130619/NEWS01/706199949

So they read the Emancipation Proclamation in Galveston, Texas this morning.

by chance, was reading 'lincoln's hundred days' by louis masur -- about the 100 days leading up to the release of the proclamation -- while waiting for my car to be worked on this morning. a terrific read.

anyone here read the "novel" "by" ellison? I love invisible man. Is it one of the good unfinished works?

quotation marks fully justified. it's a mess and a fake.

WHITE CO-WORKER: "And then I noticed there was hardly any traffic on the road. Then I remembered, it was Juneteenth!"

ME: "Yeah! Federal holiday and everything now."

WCW: "But you know, too bad it's not for us..."

ME: ...

ME: "I don't know about that? I mean, we're all Americans."

WCW: ...

WCW: "I mean, we're not bankers or postal workers, Plains."

I sincerely hope your WCW was thinking in this vein: FASTER YOU FUCKERS - The ILX Work & Productivity Thread, bcz if not that was a regrettable exchange.

Overheard a confused woman at the grocery store who couldn't figure out why she was going to a June 10th barbecue when it was almost the 20th.