Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. Note that this was two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation – which had become official January 1, 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation had little impact on the Texans due to the minimal number of Union troops to enforce the new Executive Order. However, with the surrender of General Lee in April of 1865, and the arrival of General Granger’s regiment, the forces were finally strong enough to influence and overcome the resistance.
And yet… we have so fucking far to go in this country.
Some of my husband’s family were enslaved people in Texas. Upon hearing of their liberation, they did the smart thing—they got the hell out of Texas!!
Where did they go? Such incredibly brave people to leave into the unknown, with zero civil rights established, many were forbidden to learn to read or write. If you know how they made it out and where they went I’d be interested.
They went to Washington, D.C., where my husband grew up. My husband’s father, who was born in 1905, owned a garage. During WW II he and his brother had a hauling contract for the federal government. When my husband was a child in D.C. in the sixties, the MacDonald’s was still segregated. My husband moved here to Connecticut for college and never returned. We met in law school in here in 1978. We started dating in1982, when mixed race relationships were more unusual. We’ll be celebrating our 35th anniversary in August.
This is inspiring. Thank you for sharing!
What a wonderful and inspiring story. I hope you have a wonderful celebration in August!
Thank you for that. I hope the world wakes up.
Thank you for posting this.
I found a have written letter on Ancestry dot com from a woman I thought might have been related to me, explaining what it was like to suddenly be free but have nowhere to go after the plantation she was living at in Texas simply told the slaves to leave. Until I read the letter I had never considered what being free meant in real time to someone who was born into slavery, and I’ve never forgotten that letter, not how it easily relates to those who suddenly experienced a new era of freedom post Civil Rights, which was signed the day I was born.
Yes, there must have been joy at freedom but still nowhere to go except out into the world empty-handed and afraid. And sadly segregation followed after that.
That’s why some of the newly freed people chose to stay on their plantations. Food and shelter. Especially, those with children. At least families could be together instead of being split up and sold to other plantations. It must have been an exciting AND scary time. Not to mention that some people still behaved as though the free people of color were slaves. Easier to change a law than a mind. Then and now…
So true.
My 3x or 4x great grandparents (idk how many greats bc isolation brain doesn’t do math well lately) had three plantations in Texas. Once word came, they freed their slaves and gave each man, woman and child a parcel of land. I don’t know that I ever took the time to research all the truths of this story but I do know that I remember my great grandmother and she and future generations were sure to perpetuate the story and how not to judge someone on the basis of color and to treat them the same as anyone else. My firstborn was born on Juneteenth (happy birthday, my big baby!) and my entire family thought it was a great day for a birthday including the old and now deceased generations. I also remember that many people didn’t like that my great grandmother and grandmother let black people use their bathrooms in their homes and I couldn’t understand what the big deal was as a kid.
And Trump can suck a bag of dicks for saying that nobody else knew what Juneteenth was and that he “made it famous “ meanwhile I’m still horrified about what he’s doing in Tulsa.
Today an officer was fired that was responsible for Breonna Taylor’s murder. I would had liked an arrest, but this is something. The officer has been accused of multiple sexual assaults. It is sad that you can only read about it Louisville news sites. There are multiple stories of young women claiming he sexually assaulted them after he volunteered to drive them home under the guise “I’m a police officer off duty, let me get you home safe”.
I can’t even remember how many true-crime episodes I’ve seen about that “I’m a cop, you’re safe with me,” or the cops who threaten the women to get in their car. From many states, all races of perps and victims/survivors. Some of the cops got away with that FOR YEARS. Especially the cops who targeted sex workers — “who do you think they’ll believe …” being the tactic to guarantee silence.
You know what is fucked up? He has been fired, not arrested. I generally respect and listen to law enforcement, but this particular man has long history of taking advantage of young women. It is sad that this happens every day in America.
He got fired not because he murdered her, but because it brought attention to their department and to try to save the rest of their asses.
Related to Shari’s post about family leaving Texas and moving to D.C. There is a book coming out in August about the Great Migration
Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots Hardcover – August 4, 2020
by Morgan Jerkins (Author)
I agree with IJC Trump can go suck a bag of dicks and not just because of Juneteenth,
Agree that he can suck several bags of dicks for numerous reasons. But I have a lot of fear about what might happen in Tulsa. It’s a community that has a history fraught with violence from the trail of tears, the massacre of Black Wall Street, etc. It is a town with awful racial divisions. Trump is once again poking the bear. Juneteenth celebrations will continue through the Father’s Day weekend. Al Sharpton fired up those celebrating Juneteenth yesterday and more protests are planned throughout the weekend. The Greenwood area is only a mile away from the venue for the rally where Trump supporters have come from all over the country and been camped out since last Sunday. There was a curfew in place but orangalini made the curfew go away. The national guard is already there and a military presence is there as the secret service is asserting itself and confusion is already apparent between law enforcement agencies. None of this has even touched on the fact that no one is wearing masks as his supporters don’t believe in them for the most part and Tulsa numbers at all time high this past week already. Also, guaranteed that most are card carrying nra supporters with conceal and carry permits and are packing heat. It is a powder keg of a lot of shit that can blow up into another horrific scene. I’m afraid and I’m super angry that he continues to promote the division and angst rather than bring people together by competent inclusive leadership. I pray to God for everyone there’s safety and for him to go away in November. He is fucking nuts and clueless about what he is and where he is going today. 😭
This is such an important day in history. Thanks for sharing your stories. It sounds like a pending disaster for Tulsa. In what world should this unnecessary rally be happening??? Trump realizes he’s losing his grip.
well, last I read the stadium was about half filled and they cancelled the outside rallies. The Trump Team is claiming that counter protesters disrupted his party and that is why no one showed up. LOL. Several thousand people were in the stadium. Very few masks. Zero social distancing. So it is still a huge problem for Tulsa.
Can Tulsa store owners put a sign out “If you attended the rally without a mask, please do not enter” or is that illegal?