Juneteenth

Juneteenth  (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day) is a federal holiday in the United states  commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining  June and nineteenth, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order, issued by Major General Gordon Granger on June 19, 1865, proclaiming freedom for slaves inTexas. Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture.

The day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law after the efforts of Lula Briggs Galloway, Opal Lee, and others.

June-Nineteenth should be commemorated globally, just like other dates that marked the end of slavery since the concept of slavery was practiced at a global scale. The hierarchy of slavery wasn’t formed on majority to minority or minority over majority rather it was architecture-d on humanity.

Some groups and individuals were inhumane compared to the rest. Just like Ta Nehisi Coates argued people were not slaves rather ‘Enslaved’. A noun and a verb have been wrongly juxtaposed to this ferocious mythology."We should always be concerned, what could have been the causes of enslavement, the causes of selling off people’s children, the causes of destroying families. And how did all the slave Merchants become mythologized?”

King Leopold II stood as the undisputed slave Merchant in the Congo free states, Isaac Franklin who owned over 600 slaves, Tippu Tip (Hamad ibn Muhammad ibn Jumu'ah) who controlled the East African coast and the Central African slave caravans. All these figures and more have been made part of the global history and books have marveled them has greatest business moguls of the past centuries. The question is; why should their names still be printed in our literature?

Why shouldn’t we change the narrative of enslavement to the beautiful stories of triumph and the figures that mattered to put end to this horrific act. Frederick Douglass, W.E.B Du Bois, Maya Angelou, Queen Nzinga among others.

These activists and abolitionists are the narratives needed to be penned since they changed the mindset of black communities and empower it with confidence and tools to subjugate the colonial brute of dominance which still exist.

Still quoting from Ta Nehisi Coates‘ The Water Dancer’ – “Set during the era of slavery, follows a young black man who discovers that his memories triggers a mysterious power of  teleportation that can help escaped slaves flee.”

The theme of this novel is Slavery, memory and freedom. As Hiram moves from being enslaved, to running to freedom, and back to rescue others, he experiences many aspects of the evils of slavery and encounters different opinions of the nature of freedom.

One of the reasons why I have decided to include Ta Nehisi Coates in this article, he has been one of the outstanding figures regarding the history of Slavery in the America’s. He resonates more to this generation.

Ta Nehisi Coates advocates for “slavery reparations”.

On the Oprah show he says, “We all stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. It is really important for people to understand that the dead for reparations in this country is as old as enslavement in this country. In fact it’s older than the country. Immediately after liberation people were asking for reparations. And one of the answers I record in that article was ‘we gave you Christian civilization, we brought you here out of the barbarism of Africa!’ the question of payback to formally enslaved is we are settled, our account is even.”

Ta Nehisi Coates’ argues the African American community need to be repaid for the forced labor they offered to the state. Well someone as to pay for the sins of his grandfather.  His argument is very much sensible to the world’s most capitalistic country. Nothing for free.

As the world celebrates the blacks emancipation of Juneteenth, Ta Nehisi Coates’ words should be reflected. Stories of triumph should be narrated of abolitionists heroes. And we should dance Kizomba with the blues as we celebrate the unique culture that was birthed in the cotton plantations and sugar wetlands.