Happy Juneteeth!
Inside: 5 places to visit in Tallahassee to celebrate this federal holiday
Hi, everyone!
I hope you’re all doing well and have a chance to enjoy this beautiful Juneteenth.
For those who don’t know, June 19th, or Juneteenth, is America’s second Independence Day. It is the day when slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free — 2½ years after the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation. Although not all slaves were freed on Juneteenth, June 19th is the national holiday that commemorates the end of slavery after the Civil War.
Every Juneteenth, I like to pay homage to my ancestors, thanking them for the sacrifices they’ve made in the pursuit of progress. During these trips, I also reconnect with my Black history and reconsider the path forward for Black progress and racial equality.
Later today, Benji and I will take a local bus down to the Southeast side of DC to visit Cedar Hill, the estate of Frederick Douglass. However, if I was currently in Tallahassee, I’d probably go on a bike ride through the city, visiting sites like Smokey Hollow and the Slave Cemetery at Betton Hills:
Whether you have today off or not, I hope you get a chance to visit some of these sites. Each site is rich in history and exposes the fractures that still remain from slavery and Jim Crow. In exploring, I hope you come to appreciate how far we’ve come, and how far we have to go.
Also, while you visit these sites, keep in mind that the City of Tallahassee and Leon County both issued apologies for slavery earlier this year. Is this enough action in a city whose wealth was intrinsically tied to the buying and selling of kidnapped Africans and the exploitation of their labor?
I invite you to ponder this question: Aside from a mere apology, what additional steps must our local leaders take to erase the racial wealth gap and legacies of slavery and Jim Crow?
Stay well and talk soon!
Shelby