What's The Big Deal About Juneteenth?

A friend of mine asked me, “What’s the big deal about Juneteenth?”

And I looked at him quizzically

Because Black folks have been celebrating Juneteenth for well over a century

But I thought to myself maybe he just needs a lesson in history

I said, “On June 19th, 1865 Union General Gordon Granger issued General Order Number 3

Informing the last remaining slaves in Galveston, Texas that their bondage was over and they were to be released”

See on January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued a decree

Declaring slaves in the South to be set free

But it took over two and a half years for the Emancipation Proclamation to make it west of the Mississippi.

My friend seemed surprised to hear about this information

That I shared about the history of our nation

So I decided to give him more details so that he could understand the gravity of the situation

See the big deal about Juneteenth is that Thomas Jefferson, who owned slaves

Wrote a line in the original Declaration of Independence condemning those who owned slaves

But because he feared the opinion of others who owned slaves

He removed the condemnation because he was afraid of what they were gon’ say

That was one of our nation’s many terrible compromises and decisions

The Missouri and 1850 Compromises, some dreadful decisions

And in 1857 an even more dreadful decision

The Supreme Court issued the Dred Scott Decision

Which said that black people born in this nation could not be citizens

See the big deal about Juneteenth is that my forebears would try to escape bondage by running through the trees

But most could not make it through the Nathan Bedford Forrest. Their liberty was Stonewall’d

When they were captured they would be shown no leeway

Instead they would be shown Lee’s way

Robert E. Lee’s way

See for generations black folks in our nation had nothing more than suffering and strife

At anytime “massa” could come for their kids, their husband, their wife

And if they tried to fight back “massa” could come for their life

There was no, “I’ll see you in court!”, black folks didn’t have those rights

Even though many had freedom in Christ they didn’t enjoy freedom in life

So when Lemuel Haynes preached I said , “Amen!”

When Sojourner Truth prayed I joined hands

When Phyllis Wheatley, Jupiter Hammon, and David Walker wrote, I studied to understand

And when Frederick Douglass asked, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, I felt that

Because my ancestors lived and survived that

So the big deal about the Juneteenth celebration

Is that it is a reminder that the United States of America, our nation

Moved closer to reaching her ideals of Freedom and Liberation

Through the Emancipation

Of 4 million members of the population

I think that’s a pretty good explanation