The other ‘days’ Black folks should acknowledge
For a good part of my adult life, Juneteenth was my penultimate commemoration.
Eventually, that status gave way to the three days of the African World Festival—which we foolishly allowed to die, creating a cultural void that has yet to be filled.
I enjoyed both celebrations because they represented opportunities for African Americans to come together in celebration and brotherhood.
They provided opportunities for extended family reunions, drawing together old and new friends, Black merchants, and entertainment uniquely African or African American. And they highlighted the unique foundations of our essence on these shores; our liberation and our culture.
Each year we learned, laughed, and loved under the umbrella of comradery, which is in sharp contrast to the other 361 days of the year when most of us either hide in fear of urban terrorists or ignore the essential tenets of our tribal communion.
Juneteenth dropped to second on my list because years of research and study took me to the sad reality that it was a misrepresentation of the concept of manumission, in that it marked a day of liberation for only a segment of our tribe.
June 19, 1865, indeed anoints the anniversary of the emancipation proclamation’s mandate to free African slaves, but only for those living in the Confederacy.
For African slaves in the northern states, the proclamation was hollow.
It did not free the over 1,000,000 human beings living under the whip of Northern bigots, despite the apparent hypocrisy that the Civil War was supposedly fought to free all slaves.
In fact, many of the union soldiers who fought for the North and politicians and business leaders who supported Lincoln’s order were themselves slave owners. And they remained so until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
They understood that Lincoln was by his own admission a racist, and his executive order was not based on moral or religious grounds but, instead, was one of military necessity.
Many also believed that the proclamation would be rescinded when the smoke cleared, as it was probably illegal.
The emancipation proclamation, which had actually been issued by a Union general a year earlier, only to be rescinded by Lincoln, would pave the way for ‘Colored troops’ to enter the war, which the North was losing at the time.
Equally important, it created chaos in the south, where slaves escaped or turned on their bigoted ‘owners.’
Recognizing those truths created a dichotomous conception in my mind.
Indeed, Juneteenth is a viable occasion to celebrate and has survived for half a century here in Milwaukee. It is indeed worthy of commemoration.
But are there not other days that could serve as appropriate occasions to celibate as milestones?
Are there events in U.S. history that warrant commemoration for our freedom from bondage and oppression?
For example, would it be more appropriate for Black Americans to celebrate December 6 (1865), the date the 13th Amendment was ratified?
That Amendment officially ended slavery in the United States for all Africans.
Or maybe we should make July 9 the day of jubilee since it was on that day that the last two states ratified the 14 Amendment.
The 14th gave Africans (we were not technically Americans until then) official citizenship status.
The 14th also forbade Confederate traitors and White Supremacists from holding political office, thus signaling the beginning of Reconstruction and the election of several Black congressmen.
Then again, maybe we’re putting the cart before that mule we were promised but never received, along with the 40 acres.
Before the politicians conspired to rob us of our just due reparations, the righteous few did enact the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
You probably have not been taught about it either, but that law was for a period considered landmark legislation.
With the overwhelming support of Republicans (the party of Lincoln and most African Americans), the Civil Rights Act of 1866 was introduced by Senator Lyman Trumbull. It granted all citizens (ironically excluding Native Americans) full citizenship rights and equal benefits of the law.
It also mandated equal protection of person and property.
Ironically, it was the Democrats who opposed our civil rights following the Civil War. Their leader was one of the most racist presidents in history, Andrew Johnson.
Johnson, not to be confused with the other Donald Trump icon, Andrew Jackson, was put on the presidential ticket with Republican Lincoln in an unsuccessful attempt to appease the Southern states, which would ultimately form the Confederacy.
Fortunately, Republican abolitionists pimp slapped Johnson and the Democrats. But it is interesting how years later, the two parties switched sides. Many believe leopards never change their spots, and both parties merely switched labels to confuse the masses.
That issue notwithstanding, let’s organize a celebration for March 1. On that day in 1875, Congress (the Republican majority) led by seven African American congressmen enacted the second and most significant Civil Rights Act, this one forbidding discrimination in public accommodations.
As was written, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 affirmed the ‘equality of all men before the law.’
It didn’t last, but that’s another story.
You were probably not taught in government schools about the importance and ultimate fate of that law, nor of the profound statement of African American Representative James Rapier during debate on the bill. His eloquent words still resound today:
“After all, this question resolves itself into this: either I am a man, or I am not a man.”
For that matter, maybe we should hold a holiday for Rapier, who, like Martin Luther King 100 years later, framed the concept of civil rights legislation as the preeminent tool to tear down the walls of apartheid.
If you want to learn what happened in the next decade, read Lawrence Goldstone’s ‘Inherently Unequal: The Betrayal of Equal Rights by the Supreme Court, 1865-1903.’
It is a phenomenal, eye-opening account of the treachery by the courts, politicians, and the corporate heads who controlled both.
The book further explains how these White supremacists impregnated ‘Lady Justice’ to produce a baby named Jim Crow.
Suppose you’re brave enough to do the research. In that case, you’ll discover both the North and South—Democrats and Republicans– joined together to undermine Black equality and opportunity immediately following the Civil War.
It would be 99 years before their evil intent was rectified.
History leaves little doubt that both conservatives and liberals—Democrats and Republicans– viewed Africans as inferior.
Considered by historians as a liberal because he freed the slaves, Lincoln was (as I noted earlier in this column)–by his own words–a racist who believed we were of an inferior race, not worthy of equality.
And he was not alone.
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Woodrow Wilson, Richard Nixon, Jackson (Andrew—also known as ‘Old Hickory’), Johnson (the other Andrew—not Lyndon B. Johnson), and Trump were among the long list of racist presidents.
In fact, while President Johnson (Lyndon) signed into law the most significant civil rights acts of the 20th century, he was also known to call us ‘niggers (n-word)’ behind closed doors.
Maybe we should ignore president’s day and limit our commemoration to Barack Obama or the other Black individuals who paved the way for us.
It would undoubtedly fill up the calendar if we held a holiday for the Black heroes and ‘sheroes’ who stood at the vanguard, often giving their lives for the promises denied us by the U.S. Constitution.
They gave us Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, but he was but one of many who followed the template of Moses…and Mahatma Gandi.
There are thousands, maybe millions, who led our flock over the generations. And many did so without recognition.
For example, Rosa Parks was not the first person to challenge Jim Crow segregation on public accommodations.
Her resistance to segregation was significant; it was monumental because of what it led to.
But history—not ‘His-story’—reveals there was another sister identified to sit in the seat Parks occupied. But she was rejected because she was a single mother—“a sinner!”, the NAACP declared, because she had a child out of wedlock.
Sad, but true.
And Parks was not the first to challenge segregation on public transportation. That honor should go to….
Naw, I’m not going to tell you, because that’s part of our problem; we know the government school system won’t teach us the truth because it might wake us up.
But, nothing is stopping us from learning our history ourselves; the information is available, but apparently, the will to learn is not significant enough.
Nonetheless, I will give you a hint. The first person to challenge the system was a Black male, who was enticed by a renowned civil rights attorney to challenge repeated attempts by the Supreme Court to invalidate the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
Sadly, the court that issued the inflammatory and devilish ruling in Plessy used similar racist dogma to dismantle the 1875 act.
My point is that we are fools to celebrate Juneteenth in isolation, for in truth, it was not a panacea.
There are equally significant moments in history and millions of Black heroes our Griots should tell our children about as part of the rites of passage.
And while they were not African American, I would include White icons like Reverend John Brown and Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts on the list of those who helped pave the way.
Not that they were the only Whites to champion our cause to tear down the walls of apartheid, but they were among the most accomplished and revered.
You read about Brown, but Sumner was the preeminent advocate for civil rights for African Americans of his era and a catalyst for the empowerment of Black Americans following the Civil War.
Had he been around in 1619 when ‘His-story’ says we were first brought to these shores, maybe we whould have gained our freedom earlier.
Check that. It’s another lie presented as fact.
Despite what you have been told, we were not first brought to these shores as slaves in 1619.
The first ‘slaves’ were brought here by Spanish explorers a century earlier. Many of those ‘slaves’ escaped from bondage and miscegenated with Native American tribes. They established a community that survives to this day.
Look it up. Please!
In fact, there is evidence that we arrived here as explorers ourselves long before that. Our African ancestors explored the continent when Europeans lived in caves and trying to figure out who turned off the lights when the sun went down.
So much to learn, so many lies to dissect.
I told folks several years ago my days of marching are over.
I’ve put in my share—and several others have as well—walking for justice, trying to convince God-fearing people to be God-fearing people. I’ve hung up my shoes.
But If my legs and sore feet allow, I’ll be down on King Drive this Saturday to celebrate Juneteenth.
I hope to take my grandchildren to explain that Jubilee Day is but one day on our long journey we should acknowledge.
And I will have them look at the sea of beautiful Blackness, explaining if only we could expand this concept of unity….
Hotep.
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