Dear Friend,

What do we do when there’s nothing we can do? 

We do.

What do we do when those who think they hold all the power want us to believe we have none?

We do.

The Juneteenth holiday we are about to celebrate for the 161st consecutive year since 1865 did not come about by waiting for the perpetrators and enablers of that crime against humanity—enslavement—to grant freedom to those whose God-given birthright should never have been trespassed in the first place.

Each Juneteenth is a summary: an accounting of the tenacity, spirit, and active self-determination of Black people—and our allies of every race, creed, orientation, and hue—who resisted the American slavocracy every step of the way.

In celebration,

In memoriam,

In thankful remembrance . . . 

As we commemorate this 161st Juneteenth Day . . .

As we honor our ancestors and their descendants without whose suffering, courage, and tenacity we would not be here to tell the tale . . . 

As we pay homage to the estimated one hundred million African men, women, and children whose lives were seized and devoured by slavery . . . 

We remember the true meaning of this day―especially in these tremulous times.

Juneteenth, June 19, 1865, marks the ceremonial end of that reign of terror known as American slavery. On that day, Union soldiers reached the farthest outpost of the Confederacy―Galveston, Texas. They informed the last known people still enslaved that they were then and forever free. The spontaneous celebration that took place that day has been commemorated every year since in the states, South and North.

Three years had passed since President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. 

246 years had passed since the first “twenty and odd” Africans enchained were brought to shore in Jamestown, VA, about the latter end of August, 1619, and traded for “victualls” (food). 

246 years of unfettered commerce; of unchecked power; of unbridled greed, moral bankruptcy and hypocritical piety. 

There are those who look upon that history, speak of “different times,” and are wont to say: “But slavery was legal then.” Do we truly believe that those powerful enough to perpetrate and profit from atrocities do not first absolve themselves?

There are those who retreat from that history to the comfort of denial to declare, “I never owned a slave.” Come this July Fourth, #America250, will they renounce citizenship with “I never carried a musket,” as though they have not been privileged by the legacies of both?

There are those who retreat behind a veil of “objectivity,” speak of the need for patience on the part of the victimized, and wax philosophical. “These things take time,” they say. 

These things do take time. Yes. And, never give it back. Four hundred and seven years, 1619-2026, is time enough.

There is a debt owed our ancestors—enslaved, segregated, erased, denied, disregarded—incalculable interest due. A debt unlikely to ever be paid. 

And we, the living; what do WE do now—particularly on this Juneteenth Day? We hold high in remembrance what sustained our loved ones even as they suffered. 

We are the promises they made to themselves. We are their dreams.

Happy Juneteenth!