My Personal Journey to Juneteenth

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By Staci Lowry

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As a Black woman living in America, I have felt undervalued, unappreciated, unheard and unseen more times than I can count. I, like many Black women in this country, continue to show up as caregiver, leader, moderator and beacon in hostile environments. We continue standing on the frontlines of dismantling oppression, racism, inequality, and a plethora of other foundational plagues only to keep being disenfranchised by those same systems. I’m not sure if it is simply by circumstance or divine intervention, but Black women are the glue that holds this tattered and unhinged country together by its seams. This is why Juneteenth, especially this year, is so important to me.

Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated on June 19 each year to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved Black people in the United States. It is considered the longest-celebrated African American holiday. First recognized in Texas in 1865,  Juneteenth commemorates the date when Black Texans learned they were free, nearly two years after the Emancipation Proclamation.This holiday is currently recognized in 47 states and the District of Columbia with some sort of observance, in a few places (including Texas, Virginia, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania,) as a paid holiday for state employees. I’m not quite sure why Hawaii, North and South Dakota have not recognized this date, but in all fairness, I was also late to celebrating Juneteenth. But as of yesterday, the Senate just passed a resolution to recognize Juneteenth as a national holiday. While I am grateful for the symbolism of this act, part of me does feel as if a notable change in policy would be preferable.

I was born and raised in Detroit, a city to which droves of Black folk, including my own,  relocated from the south during the Great Migration. I grew up in a melting pot of cultures and traditions that, in my naivety,  I assumed everyone participated in.  I loved learning, and at one point, considered history to be one of my favorite subjects. Now I know that the history that I was taught in school was rooted in institutional and systemic racism, built on the foundation of white supremacy. While I’m sure we read about Juneteenth in one of the many outdated textbooks, it was glazed over like much of my ancestors’ history in the United States. 

I was taught, just as my parents were, that we celebrated independence on July 4. I grew up in a family where all holidays were a big deal, but especially the 4th of July because it was in the summer where we could commune outside with the smell of the grill in our nostrils and with plenty of music and laughter, while reminiscing over family memories. For decades, I believed that this holiday was for me, for my family, for Black people. I unapologetically admit that I did not dismantle that narrative in my own life until 2016. Today,  many Black people in Black communities are just learning the truth of Juneteenth. 

Summer festivities have been different for my family the last couple of years. We all have a keen sense of awareness and desire for cultural connectedness that we have missed out on for so many years. It has been a difficult couple of years navigating what we considered normal lives in the midst of racial tensions, police brutality, a white supremacist administration, and a global pandemic, so the longing to celebrate our uniqueness, our Blackness, is at an all time high. We have historically had so many lows as a Black community, and with the increasing disparities since the pandemic, many of us want a reason to celebrate. 

Like the Texans who were last to know that they were free, I did not know I was invited to celebrate Juneteenth. The social justice and organizing community was my first exposure to embracing my authenticity and my seat at the Juneteenth table. We as Black women have to fill many seats. We show up for our loved ones, our community, and even for the elected officials we task to change policies to improve our circumstances . We are descendants of the founders of Juneteenth, on whose shoulders we build and usher in a movement of change for future generations. Whether Juneteenth is new to you or not, I challenge you on the 19th to tell a Black woman they are appreciated and deserve to be celebrated!

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