reclaiming

Do you know the story of Juneteenth? Can you imagine it? June 19, 1865, the day that General Order No. 3 “informed all Texans that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves were free,” is the day that we know as Juneteenth today. We can imagine asking: What kind of jubilee floated into the air that day? Do you think the exaltations shook fear out of the ground? What songs gave sound to words with no language? Juneteenth (“Emancipation Day” or “Jubilee Day,” as it was called in most early accounts) is a celebration of the news that informed Black people throughout Texas that the institution of slavery had been abolished—despite the Emancipation Proclamation marking the legislative end of slavery nearly two and a half years earlier. The day...