Let’s talk about Juneteenth

There is so much happening as we approach the Summer Solstice. ☀️ There are graduation events happening all over NYC. Today is Father’s Day, AND Juneteenth. This week is Black Babywearing Week. It is Pride Month, and the Parade is soon. SO. MUCH. GOING. ON.

I am going to side-step Father’s Day today—not to minimize them and the impact they have on their children. I have done many years of newsletters, blog posts, and social media bits about Father’s Day. However, here in this space, I have never stopped and acknowledged Juneteenth. I would like to do that today. I am also going to talk about graduation some too!

Juneteenth—also known as Black Independence Day, Jubilee Day, or Emancipation Day—celebrates the freeing of the last slaves in 1866, four years after the Emancipation Proclamation and one year after the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. Celebrated in Black communities ever since. Juneteenth became a federal holiday just last year, when President Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. This holiday serves as both a joyful celebration of freedom and a sobering reminder that progress is slow and hard fought.

Whether you are just becoming aware of this holiday or you have been celebrating it as long as you can remember... I would like to share two different “celebration and sobering reminder” examples. I will take a step back and let these stunning young adults and their Head Master shine—as is especially appropriate today!

At Brooklyn Latin, the high school my son attends, the discipuli TA’s (upperclassmen who are teaching assistants for lower grades) created this brief video: What Every New Yorker Should Know about Juneteenth. They worked hard on this video during the pandemic. If you would like to learn more about this holiday, this video is a nice start. It’s short, factual, and thought provoking. Please enjoy their work. Hats off to Michael Liu, Tracey Ferrao, Courtney Webb, Silvano Spagnuolo, Axl Mensah, Iyatta Morgan Mariano, Kayla Morgan and their advisor Mr. Wolf for their work on this video.

All the kids who made the video, and their senior classmates at Brooklyn Latin just graduated Friday—yes, that includes my son! The Head Master, Ms Billy—as the kids call her—is an amazing woman and administrator who leads from her heart. During Friday's commencement, she shared:

“We are thrilled to be celebrating this educational milestone with our seniors and their families near the eve of Juneteenth. It is appropriate, because education and emancipation are fundamentally linked. Frederick Douglas—a man born a chattel slave who went on to be an abolitionist, suffragist, author, orator, founder of schools, and vice presidential candidate—wrote on this theme his 1894 letter 'Blessings of Liberty and Education':

“With education, he is the commander of armies; the builder of cities; the tamer of wild beasts; the navigator of unknown seas; the discoverer of unknown islands, capes and continents, and the founder of great empires, and capable of limitless civilization.

But if man is without education... he is, but a pitiable object; a giant in body, but a pigmy in intellect, and, at best, but half a man.

Without education, he lives within the narrow, dark and grimy walls of ignorance. He is a poor prisoner without hope...

Education, on the other hand, means emancipation. It means light and liberty...

To deny education to any people is one of the greatest crimes against human nature... no greater benefit can be bestowed... than giving them the means of useful education.”

Opal Lee shared in the Time magazine article “The Best Way to Honor Juneteenth, According to Activists Who Helped make it a National Holiday” the following quote:

“I hope Juneteenth becomes a day of service. At the very least, my wish is for people to do one kind act for someone. I don’t mean we just come together and celebrate. We’ve got to look after each other.”

I thought this was a nice and very easy thing for anyone to do today. I’ll do a shout out too for a few companies that you can also support all year long!

For babywearing: Check out Babue Baby and Mamaconnect's Instagram post highlighting Black babywearing brands for even more!

Urban Vegan Kitchen: For amazing vegan food here in the City and soon in our neighborhood too!

Nneji: A West African restaurant near Bianca and me with wonderful soups and stews, plus a small shop with fabric and handmade goods.

Camille at the Wheel: For a unique one-of-a-kind gift!

Mess in a Bottle: Merch and clothing with a message

Here is my son with the best headmaster in the world!