Juneteenth: Now More Than Ever

Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men's skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact. Lyndon B. Johnson

"Twenty-Five!"

As the domino slammed in to the glass table, oohs and ahhs could be heard around the backyard. Laughter, mixed with a little Lauryn Hill, penetrated the air and the smell of BBQ tickled the nose.

Copious amounts of chicken, burgers, hot dogs, sausage and ribs had already been devoured and yet, there were still calls to make more.

Inside the house, potato salad, collard greens, cornbread, baked beans, pasta salad, chips and guac were spread out all over the kitchen, and everyone was waiting for the moment when the banana pudding was coming out the fridge.

Do I have your mouth watering yet? I sure hope so! By now you already know what I've described. It's a Black Cookout and not only that, it's a cookout celebrating Juneteenth! There are a couple of secrets to creating a successful BBQ and one of them is without doubt, bomb Mac-n-Cheese. My friend Diane showed up with two large pans (I mean really large) and not only were both of them devoured, it was the talk of the night. It was easily the best Mac-n-Cheese I've ever had—next to my own mama's of course.

I made the mistake of putting a heaping side of Mac-n-Cheese on my first plate. It was so good I had to have seconds. Two minutes later John Legend and Common shouted, “Glory!” and I was so full off the gooey, cheesy noodles that I didn’t eat anything until hours later when Katie prepared a Solo cup full of Banana Pudding.

We were celebrating freedom.

And not just freedom, but the true moment, on June 19, 1865 when everyone in American could claim their freedom.

89 years earlier, the United States of America was birthed in the midst of bloodshed and violence. Our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Indepence and proclaimed that we were free from the tyranny of Great Britain. They declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

All Men are Created Equal…

The founders of our republic proclaimed words of freedom and hope, but that freedom only applied to some, not all. While they were free from the British, Blacks were not free from slavery.

A war was later fought and emancipation was proclaimed, but for some slaves in Texas, no one released them from their bondage. They were legally free but mentally and physically chained. Finally, in June of 1865, General Granger came to Texas, two months after the war was over, to tell the slaves in Texas, “What? Y'all ain't know?”

That moment was the first moment of true Freedom for the United States of America even if it wasn’t Liberty and Justice for all. Since that day, there has been a struggle for equality. Blacks are still fighting for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but without the physical restraints to hold us back.

The invisible chains, however, still prove to be deadly. Fighting systemic injustice, the war on drugs, the prison industrial complex, unfair sentencing, police abuse, lack of quality education and unwarranted media perceptions is tiring. That's why things like a cookout on Juneteenth to celebrate freedom is so important. It's a time to remember all that we have, despite not fully grasping equality in the palm of our hands.

We were fortunate to have many members of our diverse church attend our cookout and some of them were not Black. In fact my wife, who is White, organized the entire thing. She understood that part of the current problem in America is that Blacks are celebrating “their” holidays and moments by themselves. If we are to ever act as a “United” States then we are going to have to celebrate others.

Katie's hometown, Del Rio, Texas, celebrated Juneteenth every year and during the festivities, kids recited poems and acted out skits, music was sung, history remembered and chicken was served. Katie had experienced this holiday year after year, thus Juneteenth wasn't a foreign concept to her.

When we normalize things like Juneteenth, we bring legitimacy to Black people.

On that note, I do have to shout-out Apple as they included Juneteenth on their calendar this year. Millions of Americans woke up to a note that it was Juneteenth. Undoubtedly, many had to Google the holiday but they would have immediately been met with an onslaught of articles and information.

Over the past few years, more people have learned about Juneteenth and this year, I saw multiple articles and “Happy Juneteenths” on Facebook. That made me smile. It lifted the burden of being a educator for one day as others were educating themselves.

In addition, multiple friends of mine attended the parade and celebration that Austin does every year and then they ended their day in my backyard. As we sat amongst our varying shades of friends, something beautiful happened. People at one table were teaching everyone how to play Spades, while at another table, others were teaching friends how to slam Bones.

I leaned back in my chair and told the Dominoes table, “This is true mark of diversity. Black people teaching White people and Hispanic people how to play Spades and Dominoes.”

My friend Meagan agreed and added, “It's a shame that everyone doesn't get to experience how awesome it is to be Black.”

That made me smile from ear to ear. We both knew that there were many difficult things about being Black in America but in that moment it was all about fun. It was about the kids, all playing together, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian and Biracial. It was about the mix of Soul, Hip Hop and R&B blaring out of the speakers and it was about celebrating the fact that we are Free. No matter what struggles we have to face in the future, I know that we can endure because our ancestors made it out of the chains.