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Writer's pictureEliza Bailstein

Juneteenth


Happy Juneteenth to you and yours!


The fact that there can still be people in the US who have no idea what Juneteenth is— speaks volumes about our public education system. And the shame and lack of it in the recounting of American History. I by no means think I’m the best mouth piece on the subject but I think it’s worth sharing what I do know.


Today is a true independence day. A day commemorating the end of chattel slavery in the United States. On this day more than 250,000 enslaved people in Texas finally learned that they had gained their freedom despite it being over two years since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. News of Union troops' victory over the Confederates spread slowly across the South, eventually reaching the shores of Galveston in 1865.


Making Juneteenth a federal holiday represents a moment in our history where the US is taking steps toward a place where everyone has a voice and the ability to exert their freewill. There’s obviously much work to be done and systems to be dismantled and reimagined to be just and equitable.


Racist, predatory policing is finally coming to the light. But racism is also in the law books and court rooms,—people of color get harsher, longer sentences. For-profit prisons are disproportionately filled with black and brown bodies working for no compensation (modern slavery). Racism underpins immigration policies and the borders. It’s in the classrooms. It’s in the textbooks. It’s on the TV screens. It’s in the housing and neighborhood development. It’s in our healthcare system. It’s on the shelves and service industries. It’s in the workplace. It’s proudly celebrated in monuments, flags, buildings, and street names. It’s at the voting polls.


To dismantle and transform our society into one that is safe, just, and creates an environment in which we can peacefully and freely prosper—we have to look at the systemic problems. I know ugly. It’s overwhelming. It can make us all feel powerless. But together, we are POWERFUL. Educating. Protesting. Voting. Calling and demanding action from politicians and businesses. Divesting from racist institutions and put our money into black-owned businesses and anti-racist businesses. That's how progress is made.


My hope is holidays like today can be used to liberate our minds, open our hearts, and to brainstorm for a FREE FUTURE FOR ALL.


Please vote, love, embrace, listen, speak up, and stand up for the freedoms of all. So that true freedom may ring throughout the universe.

<3 <3 <3


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