💖UNIQUE💖

The History of Juneteenth

Instagram: @Blackbirdnetwork

New Post has been published on Black Then

http://bit.ly/2KZJpd7

The history of this celebration begins on January 1st 1863, when President Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation, outlawing slavery in the United States and freeing over 500,000 enslaved African Americans. Sadly, the news of this monumental decision spread slowly and many people remained enslaved until the news reached them…two-and-a-half years later.

Finally, on June 19th, 1865,  Major General Gordon Granger arrived at Galveston to proclaim the freedom of all slaves in the Lone Star State. His General Order Number 3 begins: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free.” (The entire text can be found here.)

But, as Henry Louis Gates notes:

Justice prevailed, however, and the first African American community to formally celebrate their freedom was in Galveston, TX. Galveston was the site of the first public reading of the proclamation in the south, as well as the first community to celebrate the holiday now known as “Juneteenth,” so named for the date of the reading of the historic Proclamation.

Today is Juneteenth, the anniversary of the end of slavery. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1862, slavery effectively continued until the end of the Civil War in 1865. To commemorate we wanted to highlight a group portrait of the first African American senator and representatives, which currently on display in our exhibition, From Negro Pasts to Afro-Futures: Black Creative Re-Imaginings.

Currier & Ives, The First Colored Senator and Representatives (New York, 1872). Lithograph.

These seven individuals embodied Black politics during the Reconstruction Era. While serving in their respective positions, these politicians advocated for public school education, universal suffrage, war amnesty, funding national infrastructure, labor rights, and civil rights.

Have you ever looked through magazines or online for the perfect hairstyle? Signs like these are hung in hair salons in many parts of Africa. As you can see, there are many options to choose from. Similar signs depicting styles for men are also displayed. Because many styles remain popular for a long time, durable, painted signs are created instead of photos. You can tell that this sign probably hung outside a salon for some time because it is very weathered.

Emancipation festival, Barbados, 19th c. [Cassell’s History of England (1886-95), vol. 5, p. 369]

Josiah Henson was born #OTD in 1789, enslaved in Charles County, Maryland. He escaped to Canada after an unsuccessful attempt to purchase his freedom. There, he assisted fellow escapees via the Underground Railroad and later helped establish Dawn Settlement, a prosperous Black community. 

Henson also left an impressive literary legacy. His first autobiography, The Life of Josiah Henson (1849) inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Following the success of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Henson republished his autobiography as Father Henson’s story of his own life (1858). You can also read rare and notable editions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, in our Digital Library. 

Happy Juneteenth! I wanted to collaborate with some talented animators & designers to create this gif to celebrate the holiday. You can watch the full version with audio here. 

Design: Danni Fisher-Shin Animation: Antoinie Eugene, Handel Eugene

Today we honor Juneteenth, which refers to June 19, 1865, when Union general Gordon Granger read out federal orders declaring that all people previously enslaved in Texas were free. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had formally freed people who were enslaved two and a half years earlier, these orders extended the Proclamation to more than 250,000 people in Texas, the most remote of the former Confederate states. While legally binding, these orders did not enable the freedom of people who were previously enslaved, and those who acted on the news risked violence and terror to actualize their rights. Through grassroots efforts, Black people in Texas reclaimed June 19 as “Juneteenth” a year later, in 1866, and it continues today as a celebration of Black liberation across the country.⁠

To learn more, see Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “What Is Juneteenth?”

All of these elements come together in the Juneteenth flag, which uses the red, white, and blue color scheme of the American flag to honor the Black American experience during and after slavery. Created by Ben Haith, founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation (NJCF), and illustrated by Lisa Jeanne Graf, the flag also features a star in the middle as a reference to the Texas flag, paying homage to the state where Juneteenth was first celebrated. The 12-pointed burst spanning the curving blue and red planes represents the dawning of new rights and freedoms for previously enslaved Black Americans.

Rest in Power to Our Allies Who Risk Their Life Fighting With Us and For Our Rights

https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_news/osu-graduate-22-dies-after-attending-protests-in-columbus/article_dcadd6b2-a75d-11ea-94c3-e7751ddd6d55.html

May her memory be a blessing Z"L

it gets worse tho! the original person who reported this on twitter said she did NOT die of asthma related syptoms. Thats what they WANTED us to think!!

she died bcause they sprayed so much tear gas in her face that she inhaled too much and DIED. HER DEATH WAS NOT CAUSED BY ASTHMA RELATED SYMPTOMS. Only tear gas. Solely tear gas.

They murdered her.

J. Cole photographed by Awol Erizku for GQ (2019)

“ur so quiet” thanks i do not want to talk to you

I’ve never actually seen what it looked like before Mt. Rushmore…it’s so saddening.

P r e a c h

This should be the next thing to be thrown in the ocean.