Juneteenth 2020

In the summer of 2018, I was living in Austin, Texas and preparing to move (back home) to New York City. One sweltering hot morning, I decided to ride my bicycle and explore the east side of the city, with a particular interest to check out the Carver Branch of the Austin Public libraries.

Upon arrival, I discovered an unexampled, charming museum next door to the library, which turned out to be The George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural, and Genealogy Center. At the time the Carver Museum had a core exhibit titled, "Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom" (originally installed in 2005). I vaguely recalled that I had heard this term before- Juneteenth- but not in a museum, textbook, or educational setting.

I desired to learn more.

Upon viewing the exhibit, many criticisms of mine arose. The exhibit refers to the Juneteenth holiday as a "studied and well-documented" piece of history; despite its lack of presence in the American public knowledge, and its lack of observance. I felt that stating Juneteenth was well-documented was a lofty claim since it is often noted that documentation for slaves regarding their birth and ancestry can be difficult to procure.

That day, I realized that my public school education in the Yankee state of New Jersey did not provide me with knowledge on the failures of Reconstruction, the celebration of Juneteenth, and how all of these concepts intertwine and continue to impact us in the 21st century in a myriad of de facto ways.

I briefly researched Anna Pearl Barrett, the author of the Juneteenth children's book published in 1999, and there was very little publicly available knowledge on her background.

The exhibit's narrative quoted African American Rev. Ronald V. Myers regarding June 19, 1865 as "completing the cycle of independence in this country". Though deeply optimistic, this contention has been disproved now, 150 years later, by systemic racism and the infectious disenfranchisement of minorities and women in the United States.

One of my greatest fears is that we are hurting ourselves from building a better future by foolishly romanticizing the past.

As of this year, Juneteenth is now celebrated across the United States as a federal holiday. I appreciate the Carver Museum for curating this exhibit, which allowed me to gain knowledge and form my own critical judgments of the way history is taught and presented.

There's a lot of work to be done in the service of Justice, and we have only just begun.