I’m happy Juneteenth is a Federal holiday–but don’t let it be whitewashed

An Op-Ed: We should be happy to popularize and celebrate Juneteenth. But we should celebrate it with the same fervor in which it was celebrated the summer of 2020, with protests, political education, and an understanding that the house of the slavemaster still stands, despite a fresh coat of paint. We must celebrate Juneteenth knowing the kind of force it took for enslaved Black people to attain emancipation – and the equivalent political force it may take to finally and absolutely uproot the American capitalist. Wisconsin celebrated it 50th Juneteenth in 2021 with a long parade up Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive, complete with Civil War re-enactors, beauty queens and kings, and Black public servants, among them County Executive David Crowley and Congresswoman Gwen Moore. This city was one of the first in the nation to celebrate the holiday.

Read More

It’s Juneteenth, and a White Nationalist Is President

With the South rising again on the watch of President Donald Trump, who plans to turn the Fourth of July this year from a celebration of America to a celebration of himself, it’s time for Americans who champion equality to begin celebrating Juneteenth.June 19, 1865 — “Juneteenth” being a combination of June and nineteenth — should remind all Americans of the long and complex fight required to end slavery here.

Read More

The Meaning of Independence Day for Milwaukee’s People of Color

This article explores why Independence Day and patriotism in America mean something different to the African/African-American community than to white Americans. It shows how Black Americans have endured vastly differing experiences from white Americans, because unalienable rights supposed afforded in America do not apply, have not applied, to them.

Read More