Fight The Power (Remix 2020): Juneteenth
“They tryna erase our history, stop and think
History class ain’t tell us ‘bout Juneteenth” — Fight The Power (Remix 2020) by Public Enemy.
This was never a holiday for my family when I was a child. There were never any celebrations in my community. We did not watch parades or hear lectures about why this was a day of significance. No mothers, aunts, or grandmothers were in the kitchen exchanging gossip while preparing baked macaroni and cheese, mustard-based potato salad, macaroni salad, baked beans, or candied yams. The hearty, boisterous laugh that only a black uncle can make after he has had a taste in the morning before he mans the grill did not register in our backyard. None of the black families that our family knew in Minnesota celebrated Juneteenth in the 80s or early 90s. Juneeteeth was not a holiday, event, celebration, or excuse to have a cookout. To be fair, we were all trapped in the Dream during this epoch.
The first time I remember hearing the word Juneteenth was when I was in college. It was not something mentioned by a professor or contained in an archaic textbook. I read about it in relation to the Estate of Ralph Ellison releasing the long-lost manuscript for his unfinished novel: Juneteenth. I had no idea what it meant. This was a new…
