Happy #Juneteenth everyone! As we commemorate the newest national holiday, it is important to recognize why this commemoration even takes place: centuries of neglect and abuse of Blacks by plantation owners and whites in general being curtailed by General Gordon Granger’s arrival in Galveston in 1865, as Texas was the last remaining state that enforced chattel slavery. I don’t think I will ever truly understand the gravity of this holiday’s importance, but I will continue to educate myself about Black history, be an ally to the Black people in my life, and use this Juneteenth and all the ones following it to reflect upon the plight of the enslaved and rejoice in slavery’s end here in America. For today is not just an ordinary Saturday in June… it is the first time Juneteenth has been formally recognized across the nation as #TheRealIndependenceDay. I wish you and yours a happy holiday! (at Blue Springs, Missouri) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQUCIhHncYd/?utm_medium=tumblr
