Juneteenth

Tomorrow, Friday, is Juneteenth 2020. It was bound to be a different celebration this year because of the pandemic. But there will be other changes this year, too.

Without a doubt, there's more general awareness of the holiday than ever before. Here where I live, this is the first year that it will be an annual paid holiday for Multnomah County, as well as for Nike employees. It will also be a paid holiday for the City of Portland.

More Whites than ever will be observing the occasion. In my home, we will be streaming "Juneteenth 2020: And Still We Rise," a live webinar of the United Church of Christ featuring moments of remembrance, education, celebration, and calls to action, then joining friends and neighbors to participate in a vigil in Multnomah Village on Friday afternoon.

Elsewhere, Lake Oswego and Eugene are among many other Oregon cities planning special events to mark the official end of slavery in the United States. On Saturday, Juneteenth Oregon will host a Livestream event starting at 1:00 p.m.

But there is much work to be done. Despite over two decades of effort and adoption of some sort of commemoration in all but three states, Juneteenth still is not a federal holiday. Change.org has an online petition to support making it a national holiday. Oregon has officially recognized Juneteenth for only 19 years.

And while this Juneteenth will perhaps be the most widely observed Emancipation Day yet, and Whites are more engaged in tackling racism than we have ever been, the most recent Black killings remind us that Black freedom still has not arrived. Yes, we will mark Juneteenth this year in new ways and in familiar ones.  And then we must get back to work on challenging our own internal racism and dismantling the racist systems that deny us liberty and justice for all.

 Love,
Nancie/Mom/Mimi/Grandma

Comments

Cheryll Simmerman said…
Nancie, thanks for the info about the various Juneteenth events!! Stay well...Cheryll
June 19, 2020 at 6:45 AM
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