'I want to celebrate freedom in its totality': What Juneteenth means to Black Louisvillians
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Like many young people, Aukram Burton grew up knowing nothing about Juneteenth.
It wasn't until Burton, now executive director of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage in Louisville's West End, was in college that he learned what happened on June 19, 1865 — the day that Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed a reluctant community in Galveston, Texas, that President Abraham Lincoln had freed enslaved people in rebel states two and a half years earlier.
For years to come, it became known as "Freedom Day" or "Emancipation Day."
But more than a century later as Burton sat through a lecture about Juneteenth in the 1980s, he thought: "We are still imprisoned."
"Even though the shackles were taken off physically, there are still shackles on our mind," Burton said. "Juneteenth is just a platform that is part of a larger struggle, which began when we were brought from the African shores to this country against our will."
This Juneteenth will be marked with heightened energy and awareness as mass demonstrations are planned amid the tension and uprisings against systemic racism in the United States sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.
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Although the date is not a federally recognized holiday, dozens of cities in the U.S. are starting to formally recognize Juneteenth, and many companies, including Twitter and Target, are allowing employees a paid day off on June 19 following increased attention from the Black Lives Matter movement.
On Thursday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear issued a proclamation recognizing June 19 Juneteenth National Freedom Day. He said he will encourage the General Assembly to adopt it as a state holiday in the next regular session.
"Today's the first proclamation, I believe, that's ever been signed for Juneteenth — or certainly the first publicly," Beshear said during a press briefing Thursday. "We're going to continue to work on our efforts to address historic inequities."
Just as African Americans in Texas had no idea slavery had ended two years before the first Juneteenth, many Black Americans are still learning about the historic date, Burton said. Juneteenth is not taught in most public schools, said Burton, a former administrator for Jefferson County Public Schools.
But for many in the Black community, Juneteenth is considered the true independence day of the U.S., said Jecorey Arthur, a Black Lives Matter activist who is running for office for Louisville Metro Council's 4th District.
"I often hear people say that Abraham Lincoln freed us when slavery was abolished, but in reality, he fired us," Arthur said. "We were no longer valuable assets and worth the trouble of keeping the plantations in the South."
Increased awareness of the holiday comes as the inadequacies of American society are front and center in protests and calls for change across the country. From mass incarceration to the wealth gap to education inequity and police brutality, Black Americans and white allies are calling attention to systemic racism.
"The scab of America has been pulled back, so to speak," said Lamont Collins, director of Roots 101, an African American museum with plans to open in downtown Louisville. "And so many people denied that America ever had a wound. The pain of Black America has been there, but now white America is maybe addressing the pain."
Burton agreed.
"This problem is not a Black problem. It's a white problem impacting Black people," he told The Courier Journal. "It's the perceptions that white people harbor in their minds about us, whether it is intentional or nonintentional. But we're seeing a groundswell of white people in the community stepping up to the plate, reaching out in solidarity around the world."
It's not lost on Black Louisvillians that this Juneteenth comes under a different context.
It's time for white folks in America to be intentional about learning Black history, said Hannah Drake, a Louisville writer, poet and activist.
The 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery in the U.S., came with "fine print," Drake said, when it left a loophole for indentured servitude as a punishment for crime. Scholars, activists and prisoners have linked that exception clause to the rise of a prison system that incarcerates Black people at more than five times the rate of white people, and profits off of their unpaid or underpaid labor.
"Even to this day in 2020, we are still fighting for freedom," Drake said. "Freedom is not being 26 years old, like Breonna Taylor, and killed in your own home. That's where she should've been the most free to live her life."
Drake feels the celebration of Juneteenth is bittersweet, similar to the recent passing of "Breonna's Law" in Louisville, which banned no-knock warrants. Though Louisville was the first U.S. city to pass the historic law, it came "on the back of the death of a young woman," Drake said.
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There's no correct way to commemorate Juneteenth, said Talesha Wilson, a Louisville artist and activist who has been involved heavily with the demonstrations calling for the removal and arrest of the officers involved in Taylor's death.
"People can individually determine how they want to celebrate the day: a history lesson, dancing in the street, a parade, acknowledging and appreciating Black art, whatever," she said.
Wilson said she is taking the day to be joyful and intertwined with the Louisville celebrations this weekend.
After weeks of protesting, she's taking the day to be free and unapologetic, which is, in essence, the purpose of the day — celebrating Blackness while recognizing the pain and history of the journey to liberation.
"No one gets to police how we use this day," Wilson said.
For Prince Crittenden, another Louisville activist and entrepreneur, Juneteenth will be a celebration of "beauty, bravery and Blackity Black Blackness."
Or at least, that's what Crittenden, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, has dubbed their digital series releasing this week. Crittenden, who started Louisville's BO$$ as a creative co-op for small minority businesses, had plans for an in-person bazaar this month filled with Black entrepreneurs and creatives, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed it.
Instead, Crittenden is taking the opportunity to release positive and uplifting art from the local Black community, including projects from Drake and Arthur.
"Black pain and sorrow is never 100% our narrative," said Crittenden, who has been demonstrating daily and has organized a stockpile of supplies for protesters. "I honestly think that's been placed upon us to keep us in a mindset that it's all we deserve.
"But I wanted to showcase Black joy and tell people: 'Your blackness doesn't have to relate to a struggle.' "I'm trying to look at the beauty of it, and not the chaos and confusion."
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This is a time for celebrating and educating, said Pat Mathison, a Louisville woman helping to organize the Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration, which was held last year for the first time at Waterfront Park and will be held virtually this year.
Mathison is committed to helping her grandsons understand their history. It's the only hope for change, she said.
"I used to be really excited about the Fourth of July, but now I wonder, should I even celebrate it?" Mathison said. "I want to celebrate freedom in its totality. It's time."
Ben Tobin contributed to this report. Savannah Eadens is a culture and diversity reporter for the Courier Journal. Reach Savannah at [email protected], 502-381-9498 or on Twitter at @savannaheadens. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/subscribe.
What is Juneteenth?
On June 19, 1865, Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed a reluctant community in Galveston, Texas, that President Abraham Lincoln had freed enslaved people in rebel states two and a half years earlier. He pressed locals to comply with the directive.
Although Lincoln proclaimed the emancipation of enslaved people, effective Jan. 1, 1863, enslavers were responsible for telling them they were free, and some ignored the order until Union troops arrived to enforce it, according to Cliff Robinson, founder of Juneteenth.com. Texas was the last Confederate state to have the proclamation announced.
Though the story of Texas' emancipation is the most widely known, other significant events in the history of emancipation took place on and around that date. The first known Juneteenth celebrations began in 1866 and spread across the country as African Americans migrated to new cities.
Juneteenth is a combination of "June" and "nineteenth," in honor of the day that Granger announced the abolition of slavery in Texas. The holiday is also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day.
Juneteenth is typically celebrated with educational activities for children, parades, concerts, beauty pageants and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation, said Steve Williams, president of the National Juneteenth Observance Foundation.
Though Juneteenth marks the day Texas was informed of the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved people there as it had in other secessionist states, it did not apply to Union states, such as Maryland, where there were enslavers that had not seceded in the Civil War. The 13th Amendment, which was ratified in 1865, freed enslaved people everywhere in the US.
Celebrate Juneteenth in Louisville
For the second year in a row, 502 Black Business Week, which runs through June 20, features more than 50 Louisville black-owned businesses offering deals, promotions and discounts. Find details at 502blackbusinessweek.com, and search a directory of local Black-owned businesses at buyblacklou.com.
Here are a handful of virtual events taking place around Louisville on June 19:
Juneteenth virtual panel
Mayor Greg Fischer will host a virtual panel discussion Friday from 10-11 a.m. Topics include the history of Juneteenth, personal experiences, current events and what the message of Juneteenth looks like today. Fischer will be joined by local civil rights activist and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Award recipient Mattie Jones and others. The discussion will be live-streamed on the Mayor's Facebook page.
Juneteenth Jubilee Video Series
The second annual Juneteenth Jubilee will be held virtually as an educational video series beginning Friday with music, drama and art.
A new episode of the seven-part series will premier each Friday through July 31 online at ourwaterfront.org and broadcast at noon on WAVE-3 with Dawne Gee.
The event is produced in partnership with Actor's Theatre and directed by Jecorey "1200" Arthur. It will feature musical performances by AMPED, Jecorey "1200" Arthur, Chanson Calhoun, Chase Dean, Dave Clark Trio, Hannah Drake, Jamesse, Jason Clayborn and the Atmosphere Changers, Jason Clayborn, JD Green, Maestro J, Pat Mathison, Sheryl Rouse, The La’Nita Rocknettes School of Dance and The Untouchables.
Roots 101 Juneteenth March & Celebration
Roots 101 African American Museum is leading a march and celebration for teachers, students and the community. Starting at Jefferson Square Park at 4:30 p.m., there will be art, music and food. JCPS graduates will also have the opportunity to speak before a "celebration of ancestors."