Juneteenth

Signed by law by President Joe Biden, it is the first new federal holiday in four decades. June 19th is a celebration of the emancipation of African Americans who have been held in slavery in this country. Before it was signed by law, it was a day of celebration dating back to 1865 when new that the Civil War had landed at Galveston, Texas.

And while it very well may be the false generosity of a nation, it is our opinion a step towards healing. It acknowledges the arduous prolong collective experiences some of our fellow neighbors have had to endure.   Acknowledgment is the first step to recovery and highest level of confirmation. While some of us reading might be asking yourselves “but how many first steps do we need to take before achieving full liberty?” we would like to leave a quote from Paulo Freire:

“To affirm that men and women are persons and as persons should be free, and yet to do nothing tangible to make this affirmation a reality, is a farce.”

Each tangible step, even if considered-first steps, are better than no steps in the pursuit of liberty. We have come so far in our history, we still have a long way to go, but let us not lose hope. Let us still support our communities. Stand with this in solidarity as good friends do (even if sometimes we are bad at it), and lets create a problem-posing dialog built on love and trust on how we can create steps towards a more loving and supporting community.