Why Should We Celebrate Juneteenth?

By NaTyshca Pickett

Growing up my grandmother would talk about Juneteenth and how it came about. She would say “it’s a holiday that is celebrated in Texas, but it should be celebrated everywhere.” My grandmother’s great-grandparents were slaves. Although she didn’t know who they were, she would often talk about how her mother knew them and they did not dare talk about their experience with slavery. To them, it was a past they would not like to reflect upon.

Instead, they instilled in their children the importance of owning their own land, getting an education, and the importance of family. I can imagine that these fundamental foundations were the very liberties they were stripped of and they wanted to make sure that their children and generations after would be afforded these opportunities.

Opportunities that we now take for granted. I am grateful for the opportunity to get my education and remain a lifelong student. I would hate for the day to come when this may no longer be an option. Many would say that this could never happen again, but if we are not aware of our past, the right to education can very well be stripped from us.

We don’t celebrate Juneteenth to have an extra day off work or to partake in stuffing our faces with summertime meals, but we celebrate to remember where we have been and to be reminded of how far we still have to go.

Juneteenth was just made a federal holiday in 2021. The last state to emancipate slavery was in 1865, which was 156 years ago. For some, they would say that was forever ago, but even after 156 years, Black people are still dealing with injustices as a result of the emancipation of slavery.

Juneteenth is a reminder of the resilience and strength of a people who are constantly knocked down but rise up stronger. It reminds us that we are here and have work to do. It is a reminder that we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.

As you celebrate our Freedom Day, remember where you come from and the shoulders of those who came before you, on which you stand. We are amazing, brilliant, magnificently wonderful, and the world still hasn’t seen all that radiates in our Black melanin magic.

Have a Happy and Safe Juneteenth!

Also read The National Black Anthem.