Juneteenth

2022 - 6 - 19

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Image courtesy of "New Jersey Monitor"

This Juneteenth: Celebrate, then legislate - New Jersey Monitor (New Jersey Monitor)

New Jersey celebrating Juneteenth is an important gesture, but meaningful investment and policy must accompany our proclamations.

And we can establish a Baby Bonds program to provide low-income youth, many of color, the resources they need to thrive and transition successfully into adulthood ( A1579/S768). Both of these bills would help close New Jersey’s gaping racial wealth gap. Yet there are several bills pending in our state legislature lacking legislators’ political will and courage for passage. In order to make the promise of freedom full and real, meaningful investment and policy must accompany our proclamations. Despite being a northern state known for its progressivism, the Garden State suffers from extraordinary racial disparities. New Jersey is celebrating Juneteenth as a state holiday this year for the second time. It’s an important gesture, and the celebrations are inspiring.

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Image courtesy of "Axios"

Juneteenth is at risk of losing its meaning (Axios)

The holiday is meant to commemorate emancipation from slavery.

Below you'll find a selection of lessons. What they're saying: "When you live in a society like ours, there's always the danger that these sorts of holidays will be absorbed into a kind of market, consumer-based. Why it matters: Juneteenth became a federal holiday just last year. - "You don't just want to commercialize it. without the holiday, those two different events wouldn't have happened," Glaude said. Why it matters: Because Juneteenth is not recognized as a holiday in a majority of states, many state employees across the country are not allowed to take a paid vacation day to observe the holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S.

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Juneteenth, 2022: The Good News and Bad News (Triple Pundit)

For Texas slaves in particular, the Juneteenth declaration signaled the beginning of a new life. In the context of significant dates in American history, the ...

She has also attended Angelo State University for graduate courses and studied Texas Family Law at Sam Houston State University. She lives just on the edge of the Chihuahua desert in west Texas. Instead of the American dream, after the Civil War came a baptism into the realm of racism in the form of Jim Crow laws which re-segregated the south. And white people own 86 percent of the wealth in the United States versus less than three percent for Blacks. Depending on when you were born, the experience of each generation will factor into behavior and outcomes in the workplace differently; meaning that inclusion is not a one-size-fits all. In the context of significant dates in American history, the day freedom is awarded becomes a milestone like no other. For Texas slaves in particular, the Juneteenth declaration signaled the beginning of a new life.

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'It's about freedom': Mount Dora celebrates Juneteenth (Daily Commercial)

For organizer Mae Hazleton, this wasn't the first celebration of its kind, but it felt like it. "Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in 2021, but this, for me ...

"Juneteenth is about freedom, and there are still freedoms that the African-American community doesn't enjoy — being healthy, wealthy and wise," said Hazleton. "We want you to learn about the community and what we are offering, but we also want you to enjoy the food. It's a community effort to get these kids where they need to be," Rivera said. People crowded a booth to register to vote then hugged each other before sitting down to eat together as a new community. "I have a variety of resources, everything from nutrition and exercising to preventing chronic diseases. "Juneteenth was made a federal holiday in 2021, but this, for me, is the inaugural event. It was co-sponsored by All About the Ballots, GoMountDora, Community Development Corporation of Mount Dora, Black Voters Matter, Black Women’s Roundtable and Peachy Enterprises.

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On Juneteenth weekend, Black activists march for abortion rights (knkx.org)

As activists gathered in a park just a short walk from the U.S. Supreme Court, Loretta Ross remembered the days before the Roe v. Wade decision.

"Y'all are the wombs that are at risk; y'all are the bodies that they're trying to eliminate," Ross said. "Many folks are living in communities where they don't have access to housing, gainful employment, safe environmental conditions," she said. "In 2015, I had a life-threatening pregnancy," she said. "Yes, they may be struggling," Davis said. She spoke at a rally on Saturday, planned around the Juneteenth holiday weekend, organized by a coalition of mostly Black-women-led groups. "Fifty two years ago when I was a first-year student at Howard University, I had an abortion," Ross told the crowd, gathered on an unseasonably cool June afternoon.

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Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

After Juneteenth, many Black people in Texas remained enslaved (The Washington Post)

People celebrate Juneteenth now as a day of freedom. But the truth is absolute freedom did not come to all enslaved Black people in Texas on June 19, 1865.

But also realize it took much longer and much more than an order from a Union army general to end slavery in this country.” It declared that “all slaves are free” but that the relationship between “former masters and slaves” should become “that between employer and hired labor.” It continued, “The freedmen are advised to remain at their present homes and work for wages. “It takes almost over a year for the Union Army to literally go across the state and free African Americans from slavery,” Dulaney said. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts; and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.” No one knows how many enslaved Black people were driven farther south by enslavers to avoid freeing them. Some enslavers resisted the emancipation order by fleeing — taking their enslaved workers south into Cuba and Brazil, where slavery had not been outlawed. “Granger was warning them against idleness,” Dulaney said. Many Black people were forced to continue to labor under the oppression of ruthless enslavers and unscrupulous plantation owners. They were just murdered outright across the state.” “You have the collapse of the Confederate government. “Making Juneteenth a holiday is not enough,” one banner said. On Thursday, in advance of the holiday, human rights activists installed a 150-foot Pan-African flag garden on the Ellipse, south of the White House, demanding that Biden establish a commission to study reparations.

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Image courtesy of "CBS News"

A family journey to the origin of Juneteenth (CBS News)

Author and journalist Mark Whitaker visits Texas, where his great-grandfather became a free man in 1865, and meets with relatives for whom Juneteenth ...

"You'd get to eat," laughed Bernice. "And then we would eat and go back to the field!" That's truly an Independence Day. It's not only for just Black people, but it's for America." My great-grandfather stayed close to the land, but he was able to get some education. And John is the president and CEO of the Cen-Tex African American Chamber of Commerce, which boosts Black businesses. Because he was blind and he couldn't see us." He became a fine statistician and historian. They waited, and for years." "They remained sharecropping," Angela said. John said, "You had slaves that were freed, but really had nowhere to go. The tombstones are in a tiny, well-kept, all-Black cemetery, down a dirt road just outside the town of Jewett, about halfway between Houston and Dallas. "He was blind. It was 157 years ago today, on June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger went from the piers to downtown Galveston reading General Order Number 3, which said that "all slaves are free.

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Juneteenth is a jubilant celebration — and a sacred lament (knkx.org)

On Sunday, churchgoers will celebrate Juneteenth during their worship services. Members of the clergy reflect on the role of the church and the holiday ...

"Our faith requires us to be active in restoring and repairing the wrongs that stem from America's original sin of slavery." In Galveston, Texas — the birthplace of Juneteenth — congregants at Reedy Chapel A.M.E. Church will begin their service at 11 a.m. and end the day with a freedom march. We call that End Slavery for Good, ensuring that no one be subject to slavery, even as punishment for a crime," says the Rev. Canon Anna E. Rossi. Fields says that "they were believing God to liberate them" – not Abraham Lincoln nor their slave masters. Juneteenth is also called Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day and Freedom Day. It's the most recent new federal holiday, since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was introduced in 1983. Generations later, this hymn is still sung to remember how it felt to be a slave and to continue to seek equality and justice.

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Image courtesy of "Idaho Capital Sun"

Idaho's Black communities celebrate Juneteenth with joy, food ... (Idaho Capital Sun)

With live performances, vendors, food and dance, community members gathered in celebration for Juneteenth in downtown Boise.

The Patriot Front members were arrested on June 11 for conspiracy to riot after a 911 caller alerted the police to a group of men crowding inside in a U-Haul truck. It is where I love and where I want to be,” Owens said. “If you pull out your camera, and in every one of your group photos everybody looks only like you, then you’ve probably got some work to do. “Juneteenth is a space of so much Black joy for people across the diaspora. Last year, the state and federal government signed a law designating June 19 — known as Juneteenth — as an official holiday. Holiday celebrations took place across the state with events happening in Twin Falls and Lapwai. Students at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg will also celebrate the date on Monday.

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Image courtesy of "The Texas Observer"

Here Are 3 Ways You Can Celebrate Juneteenth (The Texas Observer)

The new federal holiday marks the day residents of Galveston received General Order No. 3, which freed slaves in Texas.

This year, you can spend Juneteenth learning about Black history, going to an event, or spending time with your loved ones at your own home. Learning more about the holiday as well as Black culture and history is a perfect way to observe it To start, you can read some books about Juneteenth or Black history. If you do decide to plan a cookout, make sure you incorporate red food or drinks, which represent the sacrifice made by slaves from the past.

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Street festivals, speeches mark Juneteenth across US (RTE.ie)

People across the United States marked Juneteenth this weekend, a jubilee commemorating the end of the legal enslavement of black Americans.

President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation became effective in 1863, during the Civil War, but could not be implemented until Union troops wrested areas from Confederate control. "It's the true Independence Day, the day when all Americans were free." "This is America's holiday, not just African Americans' holiday," said Gerald Griggs, the Georgia state president of the NAACP civil rights organisation.

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Juneteenth: Inspire Change (Revenge of the Birds)

Background: Utica held its Juneteenth Celebration a day early at Chancellor Park on Saturday, June 18th, 2022. Juneteenth is the anniversary of June 19, ...

The monster is cast adrift and one day rescues a little girl from drowning. Yet, from his very first eye-opening inception, the monster is abandoned and ostracized by his own creator. I will never forget looking at my eyes in the rear view mirror and wondering then what it must be like for people who have to look over their shoulder every time they walk up the street or enter a store. I screamed at the man and told him he was barking up the wrong tree. The mere thought of this made me irate in a way I had never felt before. “I will avenge my injuries. Maybe we were looking for the same gift, I thought. Juneteenth is the anniversary of June 19, 1865, when the news slavery was outlawed finally reached Galveston, Texas. Utica’s longstanding annual celebration goes back to when African American Heritage Day was celebrated in August in the park. As in —- these are the types of conversations that can enlighten the minds and hearts on both sides. As in —- understanding how different life is in America for the oppressors and the oppressed. The profound irony with regard to the monster is that he is in inherently good and wants desperately to be embraced and loved. Freedom for all people in America may only be achieved when the oppressors learn to feel empathy for the oppressed —- and when the oppressed learn to feel a sense of forgiveness for the oppressors.

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In states where Juneteenth is still not a day off, activists see a ... (NPR)

When Juneteenth became a federal holiday last year, South Carolina organizer Jamal Bradley was excited for it to finally get the recognition it deserves.

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Organizers have high hopes for Juneteenth Freedom Fest (wflx)

Sunday is Juneteenth, a federal holiday to commemorate the day the Black community was freed from slavery. People in Fort Pierce held their own celebrations ...

The theme of the event is "Breaking the Chains" as organizers said there are still many prejudices in modern-day America. "Juneteenth is a celebration of Black culture, Black music, food, everything," said Baren Williams, who attended the event with her daughter. The event was organized by a group of seven working-class citizens who said they wanted to do something impactful for the community.

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Iowans celebrate Juneteenth with commemorations, art, music and ... (desmoinesregister.com)

The commemoration included events across the Des Moines metro, drawing thousands of attendees to celebrate and recognize the place of Juneteenth plays.

"Today we're putting on Pride and Soul, which to me is an intersection of my identity. It solidifies the start of the American Dream for Black people," said Perry Thompson, a comedian who performed at the event. Wells served as a facilitator helping community members add their addition to the mural. I'm bringing my kids now," said Iowan Johnneisha Long while attending a Juneteenth event in Des Moines. "To me it's something important to celebrate and to know our history and where we came from." We will lose the diversity — the meaning of it." "It feels like I finally gone big time as an artist. "When did I first hear about Juneteenth? About 15 years ago... the city of Cedar Rapids was going to hold a Juneteenth Celebration and I was like 'Well okay, this is a thing that I knew about but I didn't know that anybody celebrated,'" said Kevin Burt, a American blues-rock musician based in Iowa. Musicians and comedians performed and there was a debut of a documentary from Iowa PBS called "Juneteenth: The Movement." "I would say it's something that should never be forgotten for not only the African American community, but all of our communities and a part of our history that should be talked about," McDonald said. "In my opinion, Juneteenth is all about freedom and reclamation of bodily and emotional autonomy," said Jalesha Johnson, an organizer from Des Moines Black Liberation Movement, while attending the “Pride & Soul” event in Des Moines. Iowans were celebrating Juneteenth across the state in the days leading up to the federal holiday — taking stock of the importance of Black history and freedom.

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Image courtesy of "The Tennessean"

Nashville businesses, residents honoring Juneteenth through Monday (The Tennessean)

Celebrations of freedom took over Middle Tennessee streets this weekend in honor of Juneteenth.

However, it was also built on the land of a plantation once owned by the slave-owning Hadley family. This year marks the second annual federal observance of the holiday. Purchased by Nashville officials in 1912, Hadley Park was the first park bought by Metro Nashville intended for people of color and is considered to be the first public park for African Americans, according to the state's history marker.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

CNN's 'Juneteenth: A Global Celebration of Freedom' kicks off with ... (CNN)

The Hollywood Bowl event celebrated Juneteenth, the holiday that marks the end of slavery in the US. From icons like Earth Wind & Fire to R&B stars like Khalid, ...

Gospel stars Mary Mary, Anthony Hamilton and Michelle Williams, who first grew to fame singing with Destiny's Child, took the audience to church at the end of the night with inspiring individual performances. Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021, but many Black Americans have honored the date for years with parades, parties and family gatherings. "That would be celebrating freedom." Backstage, presenters Leslie Jones and Amanda Seales bopped along to the group's hit, "Poison." Act accordingly." (More on Lee below.)

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Image courtesy of "Oregon Capital Chronicle"

For the first time, Juneteenth is a state holiday in Oregon – Oregon ... (Oregon Capital Chronicle)

A national celebration of the end of slavery that has its Oregon roots in a shipyard in the 1940s will be a state holiday this year.

I think it’s an exciting place to be because it is about truth, and it is about claiming how we became a nation economically built on the backs of those who were enslaved.” Now that Juneteenth is a state and federal holiday, Gordly said work must continue for Americans to understand why the day is celebrated. When Oregon became a state in 1859, the Constitution explicitly forbade Black or mixed-race people from living in the state, owning property or making contracts. “And here we are with it being a federal and a state holiday, but she put in all the footwork.” To honor the spirit of Juneteenth, public schools need to teach about Black history, including but not limited to slavery, Gordly said. But she didn’t learn about it in school, where she recalls learning about the Emancipation Proclamation and sometimes seeing a sentence about the holiday. Gordly thinks about the day in the context of Oregon’s history. “We want to embrace the fact that it’s an American celebration,” she said. It wasn’t until June 19, 1865, when word of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas, that all Americans were truly free. Peoples, who brought Juneteenth to Oregon from her home state of Oklahoma, died in 2015. Celebrations began in Texas the following year and migrated out. A sign at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany directs attendees to a Juneteenth event on Saturday, June 18.

Statement by President Joe Biden on Juneteenth | The White House (The White House)

One year ago, I had the great honor of signing legislation to establish Juneteenth as a national holiday—the first new federal holiday since Dr. Martin.

That is why Vice President Harris and I have appointed leadership in the federal government that looks like America. Our Administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to advance equity and racial justice and address the lasting impacts of systemic racism on Black communities. To honor the true meaning of Juneteenth, we must not rest until we deliver the promise of America for all Americans. Juneteenth marks both the long, hard night of slavery and subjugation and a promise of a brighter morning to come.

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Four enduring myths about Juneteenth are not based on facts (NPR)

African Americans throughout the nation celebrate Juneteenth, but who knows what actually happened on June 19, 1865? As the nation observes the second ...

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Juneteenth: Why the holiday matters everywhere in the world (World Economic Forum)

19 June commemorates the end of slavery in the US and is a federal holiday. The day marks an opportunity to reflect on ways to combat racism in every ...

On the Strategic Intelligence platform, you can find feeds of expert analysis related to Systemic Racism, Human Rights and hundreds of additional topics. As a UK-based author of a related study details here, Black players are overwhelmingly praised for physical prowess, and white players for intelligence and character. It cited an alarming rise in hate speech and incitement to violence. However, some progress has been made on seeking reparations for slavery and the abuse that extended long past 19 June 1865. The push for federal holiday status gained momentum amid a racial reckoning that began in 2020. On 19 June 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued, Black people in Galveston, Texas were belatedly informed of their freedom by soldiers reading from a general order as they marched through town.

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Image courtesy of "Axios"

Juneteenth means USPS, banks, stock market closed Monday (Axios)

U.S. stock markets, banks and USPS are closed Monday for Juneteenth in 2022. Flashback: Because Juneteenth became a federal holiday just days ahead of the ...

Now we all have the ability to pursue the Founding Fathers' vision." Why it matters: Because Juneteenth is not recognized as a holiday in a majority of states, many state employees across the country are not allowed to take a paid vacation day to observe the holiday, which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. "We celebrate that day for American independence. - Flashback: Because Juneteenth became a federal holiday just days ahead of the holiday in 2021, there wasn’t time for many businesses, including the U.S. Postal Service and stock markets, to mark the day last year. - "Think about July 4th," Austion said. - This year, about 30% of private employers are offering Juneteenth as a paid holiday compared to 8% in 2020, according to survey data from the Wisconsin-basedInternational Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.

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Keeping Juneteenth Radical (The Nation)

Crass commercialization of a holiday is as American as a Labor Day sale, and so it is up to us to keep the true spirit of Juneteenth alive.

Juneteenth would be a great opportunity to link up, or in some cases resurrect, the celebrations of Black freedom held in communities across the United States. Emancipation Day celebrations on January 1 were common in Black communities at the turn of the 20th century. Much of the heavy lifting to save Juneteenth from being another commercialized holiday has to be done by “everyday people.” This brings us to a final reflection on the potential power of Juneteenth. It should never be forgotten that the holiday itself originated in Texas and is at its heart a local story of emancipation. Considering the echoes of “redemption” by white Southerners to destroy Reconstruction via political violence in the South being felt in the January 6 “riot” at the Capitol building, this lesson is still sorely needed. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in the mainstream press is too often only about his “I Have a Dream” speech, and ignores his radical critiques the triple evils of militarism, greed, and racism. Juneteenth offers the only opportunity on the federal election calendar to celebrate the genuine heroism of the Black men and women who went from toiling in fields to, at long last, being given a chance to learn how to read and write. For one, it is important to steer clear of what can be called the “MLK Day trap.” In other words, avoid making Juneteenth about one sliver of Black history, and instead make sure it captures the totality of the Black experiences of freedom in the summer of 1865. But less than a year later, Johnson reversed the order and returned the land to the plantation owners. Likewise, Juneteenth coverage focusing only on the moment the formerly enslaved in Texas learn of their freedom fails to miss how that day represents a broader history of the dream of emancipation—and the reality of broken promises. The general had asked Black Americans in Savannah, Ga., what could be done for them after their liberation by Union troops. The federal government’s embrace of Juneteenth is an occasion for both celebration and concern. Activists invested in the freedom of Black Americans rightly fear that the holiday will become commercialized and stripped of its radical, somber meaning.

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Photos: Juneteenth celebrations across America (CNN)

People across the United States gather for parades, parties and performances to celebrate Juneteenth holiday weekend.

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Juneteenth is a jubilant celebration — and a sacred lament (NPR)

On Sunday, churchgoers will celebrate Juneteenth during their worship services. Members of the clergy reflect on the role of the church and the holiday ...

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Juneteenth Is a Day for Cheer — and Unfinished Business (Bloomberg)

We should celebrate the end of slavery and America's progress toward racial justice. We should also reflect on how far the nation still needs to go.

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Will Juneteenth have broader, enduring meaning as a national ... (Missouri Independent)

A historical context sheds some light. Juneteenth, also known as Jubilee Day, Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, and Black Independence Day was first celebrated by ...

Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics. Between 2020 and 2022, five states (Texas, New York, Virginia, Washington, and Illinois) made it a paid holiday for state employees. But this time real freedom for all. Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as a state holiday. In 2002, eight other states joined Texas and Missouri followed suit in 2003. President Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation, ending slavery in January of 1863—two and half years earlier.

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Image courtesy of "The Washington Post"

Juneteenth Is a Day for Cheer — and Unfinished Business (The Washington Post)

Also known as Emancipation Day, the name blends “June” and “nineteenth” — the date in 1865 when Union soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, and announced ...

Juneteenth marks the day when America at last began living up to its founding creed. Even as the national unemployment rate sits at a near-historic low of 3.6%, Black joblessness lags at 6.5%. The racial wealth gap — a pronounced failure of social policy — has only increased over the past 40 years. It’s not hard to understand why, though, a century and a half later, Douglass’s words still sting. The African American story from that day forward was one of halting progress — from the 15th Amendment, to Brown v. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour. In effect, it asks Americans to reconcile their national aspirations with the reality of persistent inequalities.

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Black Americans living abroad reflect on Juneteenth holiday (CNBC)

Black Americans living overseas have embraced Juneteenth as a day of reflection and an opportunity to educate people in their host countries on Black ...

Michael Williams teaches African American history at Temple University in Tokyo and left the U.S. when he was 22. “But as a Black person within the Black community I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s celebrate us.’” They don’t feel like they’re on solid ground in terms of being able to retire comfortably or pay off student debt or just cover their bills.” “A lot of people tend to enjoy hip-hop culture and the attire and certain parts of our culture, but I feel like it’s important to acknowledge all parts of Black culture,” she said. “As a kid, I remember the street being lined with street vendors, and there’s music going on and there’d be the Juneteenth parade rolling through,” he said. Windham has lived in Taiwan for five years, and had always celebrated Juneteenth growing up in Texas. For her, it’s an opportunity to educate people about a different part of American culture, even the darker parts. Payne, an organizer, has lived in Taiwan for 11 years and said he also celebrated Juneteenth growing up in Milwaukee, which has one of the oldest celebrations nationwide. He’s now 66 and had lived abroad for much of his adult life, but returned to the U.S. for graduate school in Boston and Baltimore. Wright plans to move in 2023 to Portugal. Through her podcast, she already knows of Juneteenth celebrations this weekend in Lisbon, the capital. “The commerciality of Juneteenth has become this like whole, ‘Put it on a T-shirt, put it on ice cream tubs’ type of thing,” she said. She moved to South Korea in 2019 and will celebrate Juneteenth on Sunday with a group of drag performers at a fundraising brunch for the Marsha P. Johnson Institute. While there are no official statistics tracking Black Americans moving abroad, many are discussing it more openly after the police killing of George Floyd. In the aftermath, many African Americans saw the U.S. “from the outside in” and made up their minds not to return.

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