Transparency Tuesday: What is Juneteenth in Trump's America?

Juneteeth is the celebration of people of African descent when emancipation finally reached Texas on June 19th, 1865. It is essentially the U.S. second Independence Day despite never being made an officially national holiday. It is, however, a state recognized holiday, the first state to recognize it being ironically Texas on 1979. While it is largely celebrated with parades and festivals by people of color, Juneteeth is beginning to pick up in popularity across the nation.

And I think its great, although I am wary of it going the St. Patricks Day/ Cinco De Mayo/ any other culturally celebrated holiday popular culture gets its hands on and twists for its own amusement, wringing out all of its relevance

But, like Frederick Douglass asked "What is July 4th to the slave?" I would like to ask "What is Juneteeth in Trump's America?"

When acts of racism have skyrocketed in the last 2 years.
When police brutality is on every screen.
When justice seems so far from people of color.
When immigrant children are being torn from their parents and thrown in camps in the desert.

How can we, as Black People, turn a blind eye when there are others who are suffering when we too know that suffering? We shouldn't. We cannot be apathetic in these critical times. We would dishonor our own ancestors, our own heritage, our own legacy.

And we, my people, are better than that.

This Juneteenth, I encourage each of us, children of slaves and slave owners, children of immigrants both willing and forced, children of former asylum seekers that have crowded beneath a star spangled and blood spattered banner of our tattered union, to find the thing that will help someone else be free.