Juneteenth: a new federal holiday created to mark the day the last enslaved black people in Texas got word they were free.
Today I watched the news and saw many public figures come on networks and give their thoughts and praise for today, and I saw a concert being touted as landmark and important. While I agree that we don’t always have to have a sad overview of our history as a people and we can and should celebrate and be celebrated for our tenacity, will, and perseverance — in the words of Kendrick Lamar, “we gone be alright” — that being said, I take a bit of a more somber outlook on this day, for the fact that we were not really freed. The emancipation proclamation freeing slaves (mind you, some 50+ years after Britain abolished it and slaves had actively fought in the revolutionary war) was a move based in capitalism, not altruism. Abraham Lincoln was not a fan of slaves nor Blacks in general; southern capitalism was simply a threat to northern capitalism. The cotton industry was booming due to slaves and the business of slavery was well in the billions, so the abolition was more logistical. Furthermore, abolition was followed by the black codes which in essence criminalized being black in america. Reframing freedom by making it impossible to keep for black people, that lead to increased incarceration and prisoner leasing which put those same blacks working as slaves on the very plantations they’ve just been “freed” from. That, along with further reframing and nuances in criminal laws and policing really just found us as a people in different forms of slavery, marginalization, and persecution.
But I digress, perhaps its OK to just have a day for us, one we can celebrate and teach our kids about and own as ours. But we must be vigilant and ever watchful, for the government always seeks to pacify the masses and placate us into submission and docility. So this Juneteenth celebrate if you wish but remember that it took 3 years to let those remaining slaves know they were free, remember just how the country refrained itself to keep a foot on black necks, remember we still suffer today and that freedom is a constant struggle, and we who want freedom cannot rest until it comes.
Lastly, do NOT let Kamala Harris, the ultimate cop who locked up black men in mass for weed and other lesser crimes and laughed about her prior smoking it, don’t let Biden, who spent his career in politics doing nothing of real note for our people and actively stood against lgbt rights as well as aiding in the Clinton crime bill and their “super predator” label they gave black teens, nor Obama who during his term refused to denounce the man who murdered Trayvon Martin, or speak openly and candidly about the many other lynchings during his terms, the man who bailed pout the capitalists during the financial crisis, the token black president currently having a library built in his honor in an area in Chicago forcing relocation of people — don’t let these individuals co-opt this day, this movement or message, don’t let them pretend to be the flag bearers or act as if they speak for us, because they are NOT for us. They are the establishment, they are the capitalists, they are the ones who will feign altruism while selling us up the river in a heartbeat if it means retaining power and protecting the status quo, i.e, capitalism, which is synonymous with racisms, sexism, oppression, marginalization, and slavery.