Although June 19th is recognized as a holiday in all states except four, a lot of people don’t know what Juneteenth is.

Juneteenth is one of America’s oldest holidays and is observed each year on June 19 to mark the official end of slavery in the US. As an African American, I would have to say that I didn’t know this myself until about two years ago. So, if you didn’t know this don’t feel any shame because it is not taught in the public school system, at least not in Chicago Public Schools where I was born and raised.

In 1863 Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which was supposed to free all slaves, but the executive order had little impact in the South due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce it.

It wasn’t until June 19, 1865, that the Union soldiers landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. That is two years after they were supposed to be free.

Juneteenth is celebrated very similarly to how people celebrate Independence Day. You can expect a barbecue with some ribs, hamburgers, chicken, and hotdogs on the grill. Some people set off fireworks, and it is often used as a time for family and friends to gather together.

All my life I have celebrated Independence Day, and while it is a significant day, it is not that day that my people were liberated.

In many ways, Juneteenth represents how freedom and justice in the US have always been delayed for Black people. There is controversy about whether we can call it freedom and some people have been using the term free-ish to describe our current status in the US.

After slavery, we would see a wave of lynching, imprisonment, and Jim Crow laws take its place. That has lead to a disproportionate impact of mass incarceration, discriminatory housing policies, and a lack of economic wealth building and ownership opportunities.

And now as the nation has come together or the Black Lives Matter Movement to protest against police violence and systemic racism, it is clear that while progress has been made since June 19, 1865, there are still barriers that impede progress.

Tonight, I will gather with friends and family to celebrate our progress as we continue to fight for equality. This year I will be celebrating Juneteenth at the Peace Walk and Celebration happening in Champaign. There will be a peace walk starting at Western Bowl ending at Beardsley park stopping several times for 8 mins and 46 seconds to pay homage to George Floyd. There will be black business vendors showcasing their services, spoken word performances, children’s activities, and the singing of The Black National Anthem.

Black National Anthem Lift ev’ry voice and sing ‘Til earth and heaven ring Ring with the harmonies of Liberty Let our rejoicing rise High as the list’ning skies Let it resound loud as the rolling sea Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on ’til victory is won Stony the road we trod Bitter the chastening rod Felt in the days when hope unborn had died Yet with a steady beat Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered Out from the gloomy past ‘Til now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast God of our weary years God of our silent tears Thou who has brought us thus far on the way Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light Keep us forever in the path, we pray Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee Shadowed beneath Thy hand May we forever stand True to our God True to our native land

The post Taking time to learn about Juneteenth first appeared on SJO Daily.

Historical dates don’t always reflect reality.

For example, children learn that slavery was abolished in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 

But, because of the lack of Union soldiers in the Confederate state of Texas, approximately 250,000 persons were still enslaved, according to the History Channel. The proclamation, which stated “that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free” was not followed in Texas until June 19, 1865 when Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Texas to announce that the Civil War and slavery had ended.

Known to many African Americans as Independence Day, the day when enslaved Texans foud out they had been free for the two years prior, June 19 date became known as Juneteenth. 

It’s a word that the St. Joseph’s Jon Arteaga recently learned.

Arteaga, who organized the St. Joseph Peaceful Protest for Equality on June 5 in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, said that the whole picture wasn’t painted for him as a student when the abolition of slavery was taking place.

“A lot of that history is overlooked,” he said. 

“I didn’t even know about it until people started mentioning it with this movement that’s been happening “I’m just like, holy cow, this is really important. And I think it’s very important for us to highlight that especially in our community.”

After the June 5 protest, Arteaga joined forces with SJOnward, a racial equity group that was formed in 2017, but lost steam after hitting some roadblocks. Organizer Kelly Skinner reached out to Arteaga, asking him to become part of the leadership team.

The protest led to at least 80 new members in the SJOnward group, doubling their numbers.

With Skinner, Arteaga and others in the St. Joseph community working together, SJOnward now plans to host events every few weeks to keep the conversation going. The first event will be St. Joseph’s first Juneteenth Peace Walk & Community Rally on June 19 from 6 to 8 p.m.

“Juneteenth is widely accepted among the black community as an independence day, their freedom day,” Arteaga said. “We wanted to elevate that and kind of celebrate with them. This is an event that deserves to be celebrated, it should be a holiday. It should be something where people come together and talk about things that need to be talked about.”

The Juneteenth Peace Walk & Community Rally will begin on the south lawn of St. Joseph-Ogden High School where the Peaceful Protest was held. The group will march down Main Street to the St. Joseph Municipal Building where they will observe a moment of silence to remember the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that George Floyd endured before he passed away after having an officer’s knee on his neck as he laid on the ground.

The group will then move on to Kolb Park where speakers will share their stories and perspective. 

Community members like Sophie Gallo have made music and information less of a task by providing a microphone and speaker system. The group was also able to secure a generator.

St. Joseph-Ogden’s History Teacher Marshall Schacht will begin by talking about how black history is framed in textbooks and how it gets marginalized or abbreviated in lessons. He will also share additional information about the history of Juneteenth.Synthia Sydnor, a St. Joseph resident, will talk about her experiences growing up in St. Joseph and sundown towns. Then Heather will talk about her experiences as a bi-racial couple.

While the event will touch on some topics like upstaging and backstage and systemic racism, Arteaga said that SJOnward is already looking at smaller events and group settings where people can ask questions and have discussions about racism and racial equity.

Skinner plans to end the event with asking community members to make a verbal commitment to moving forward in the movement towards equality.

“A lot of the most effective times when people change their behaviors is when they do a public declaration of ‘this is something I’m going to change,’ Arteaga said. “Who knows how many people actually do it, but we hope that a lot of people do.”

SJOnward is also making the commitment to move forward with bi-weekly events that will focus on education, events, book groups, small groups and working with the school district to make effective changes. 

“We can teach our community as much as we want, we can hold endless amounts of events but if we don’t make real change, nothing’s actually going to change; we need to change the systems that are in place.”

The post St. Joseph to celebrate Juneteenth with community march to Kolb Park first appeared on SJO Daily.