JUNETEENTH Is Not Just a DAY!

 JUNETEENTH is now a national holiday. This recognition is a mere century-and-a-half-plus overdue. Hmmm...  more about that at the end of this post.

Perhaps the long delay is appropriate because the holiday marks a two-and-a-half year delay in news of the Emancipation Proclamation reaching enslaved people in Texas. Who knew that lateness was worth celebrating?  It's an event worthy of our acknowledgement and honor, yes, of course. Even such a criminal-yet-legally-sanctioned practice was eliminated by executive order, those who were its victims were denied news of that freedom until the announcement was asserted by federal soldiers who brought the news to their area, eventually.

EERDMANS BYR, 2010

BEN AND THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION is written by Pat Sherman and illustrated by the enormously talented and recently deceased  Floyd Cooper.  This book has stayed in publication for more than a decade. The story is one of truth and determination. Based on a real, enslaved young man, Benjamin C. Holmes. Ben was enslaved but apprenticed to a tailor in Charleston, SC. He was inspired to learn to read, despite the serious punishments that could result from that effort. As a tailor-helper, he was often tasked with errands around town. In that role he cautiously discovered ways in which he could teach himself to read using carefully framed questions, public signage, and the few letters his father had taught him before leaving home. 

His warm and supportive family connections are important and defy any notion one might hold that "his life wasn't so bad". His mother was sold away shortly before slavery ended and he never saw her again in his life. 

The value of literacy, of Ben's ability to read at all, was treasured by other enslaved people. When rumors of a change in their condition filtered through to them, they secreted a copy of the paper into their miserable communal housing. There they begged Ben to read the contents to him, to let them know if the rumors were true, or not. We all know that the proclamation was, indeed, true, and binding. After reading, the men surrounding Ben broke out in cheers. It was several moments before Ben recognized that the cheers were not only for the news, but also for BEN. For his proof that reading was within his reach, and so was possible for them, too. 

I rarely convey the full arc of a story, but his one has been around for more than a decade and the significance of this news being obscured,  even in the battlegrounds of the South, is a perfect underscore to the JUNETEETH DAY element in this post. The fact that Southeast Texas plantations were more remote and rumors/news was a further reach there, more easily denied or hidden, does not change the overall effort to deny them freedom in any way possible.

Eerdmans BYR,2010

Eerdmans is a publisher that actively pursues stories of strength and truth. In that same year they published THE BEATITUDES; From Slavery to Civil Rights, written by Carol Boston Weatherford and illustrated by Tim Ludwig. This picture book is gorgeous in its use of the timeless Beatitudes to underscore lyrical, limited text that depicts the history captured/enslaved people from the horror of the Passage through their efforts to sustain hope and faith in makeshift church services, through both song and prayer. This depiction of Black-American history extends through Jim Crow as formally enforced in the South and "unofficially" in de facto practices throughout the rest of this country. Once again, it is evident that even when legal proclamations insist that ALL people deserve freedom and equality, social efforts and patterns undermine and outright deny those facts.

Back to JUNETEENTH, which was not even referenced in either book. Why not share titles regarding this overdue holiday recognition? I did share a book that directly explores those specific events HERE, in my review of  A FLAG FOR JUNETEENTH. I also interviewed the author/textile artist KIM TAYLOR, HERE.  Of course I'd welcome you taking a look at both posts and checking out that lovely book, learning more about the actual events that sparked the holiday.

More importantly, I hope you will take these posts to inspire you to share more actual history and backstory about our American approach to freedom and those who are free-- or not. Black Americans have informally celebrated this occasion since the beginning, but why should it matter to any of us who are not BLACK? In my opinion, and that of many others, this event is an iconic example of institutional racism, so often denied to exist. Let's see this occasion as an opportunity to recognize real history, to accept it as a symbol of that history. Juneteenth acknowledges our endless national effort to deny the reality of unjust treatment of anyone who does not appear to be part of the dominant culture, even when their credentials and accomplishments might be demonstrably more "worthy" of rights and freedoms than anyone else, of any color or heritage.

Admitting that, accepting the truth and proclaiming that changes are long overdue, is the least we can all do. The VERY least. But it is a start.