Juneteenth is one of the highlights of our year. We gather in community, eat good, and kiki, all in the name of freedom.
Our unapologetic joy is an offering to our ancestors who fought for our freedom. Yet somehow anti-Blackness still tries stealing our spotlight.
Lincoln gets WAY too much credit for freeing our ancestors. Sure, he signed the Emancipation Proclamation but initially delayed this effort because he didn’t want to lose support from states still practicing slavery.
His aim was to restore the Union, even if it meant upholding slavery. So who really freed our ancestors?
Our ancestors did. From the moment they were enslaved they fought to get free. And freedom looked different for everyone.
For some it was jumping from slave ships. For others it was running away, working The Underground Railroad, sharing their truths about slavery, or fighting in the Civil War.
For those who weren’t able to escape, their freedom practices looked like breaking tools, meeting in secret to pray and sing, and building fierce communal bonds during times that felt impossible.
Our ancestors believed they were free and created freedom within themselves.
When we radically believe we’re free, that's more powerful than any anti-Black institutions or laws will ever be.