If you’ve heard the story linking Black Friday to slavery, don’t believe it. Although the holiday’s origins do involve cops, it’s more important to know what enslaved people were doing during the holiday season.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Philadelphia police named Black Friday because they dreaded the heavy traffic caused by people rushing into the city center for post-Thanksgiving Day shopping. Where does the ‘Black’ in Black Friday come from?
While the holiday has nothing to do with us outright, it’s not farfetched to wonder why many popular phrases associated with Blackness are negative. Blacklisted. Blackballed. Blackmail. According to researchers, the use of “black” to describe bad things is subconsciously racialized and has real-world implications, especially for darker-skinned people. So, what were enslaved people doing during the holiday season?
Black Friday didn’t exist before the Civil War. During those times, our ancestors brilliantly used holidays to get free. They strategically used the season as leverage because enslavers were away or had their guard down. They disguised themselves and used holiday travel passes to escape.
We can spend our time as we please. As our ancestors knew, all paths to freedom require a strategy. What cracks in the system can you find to help our community get closer to liberation this holiday season?