Celebrating Juneteenth at Home

 Celebrating Juneteenth at home

In these Covid-19 crazy days depending on what area of the U.S. you're in gathering in large groups may still be on a shelter in place basis. Juneteenth is celebrated in black communities throughout the United States and in other parts of the world. Juneteenth had been celebrated on a regular basis until the coronavirus happened. This past year most outdoor large-scale gatherings for the Juneteenth holiday were canceled, and several went virtual.

The drive continues to make the Juneteenth celebration a national holiday, but this year I am encouraging a stay-at-home Juneteenth celebration if a large gathering Juneteenth celebration is forbidden in your area. A Juneteenth celebration for family and friends with red-velvet cake, and strawberry soda, or whatever red food you choose. For those of you familiar with the Juneteenth celebration you know that red food and drink are very popular on Juneteenth.

Enjoying this day of freedom, the June 19th, 1865 day of independence for the slaves turned free people, and after the passage of the 14th Amendment, a citizen of this nation with equal protection under the law. We celebrate Juneteenth for all of the ancestors who lived and died, praying for a day of freedom they would never see. It's too bad racism didn't end when slavery did, and while the racism itself might not have come as a surprise to our ancestors the fact that racism is growing in this day and age rather than subsiding might surely have held some surprise.

But as the ancestors' dealt with slavery and racism, today their descendants the African American people of today are left only to contend with racism. Like the Africans, African Americans, and the abolitionist worked together to bring slavery to an end, that work, and us African American, abolitionist, and politicians now needed to gather those same energies to combat racism. So to me, Juneteenth is both a poignant reminder of the past and a way to remind us all, on each June 19th, that because of racism there is still much work that needs to be done organizing and creating opportunities for all those that racism is hurting.

If you've ever attended a Juneteenth celebration then I don't need to tell you that a Juneteenth celebration at home can not be compared to the food, drink, community, and excitement an outdoor festival style Juneteenth celebration can offer. But it can offer family and friends tired of sheltering in place a way to gather and a chance to honor all the ancestors before us and with good food and drink, family and friends make June 19th, 1865 a day worth remembering and celebrating.