As June turns into July

From Juneteenth to the Fourth of July; it is but a couple of weeks, but for many Americans it could symbolize a life time of experience and expectation – ways shared and often not.

This Fourth of July 2021 being the very first that follows the very first official national Juneteenth, I let speak historian and law professor, Annette Gordon-Reed in today’s guest essay for The New York Times.

No, I haven’t read her recent book which is an essay collection called On Juneteenth (I did read the excellent The Hemingses of Monticello several years ago) that reaches into her Texan childhood, but will certainly do so. Given her heritage, and after reading the NYT piece and this interview at The Harvard Gazette, Professor Gordon-Reed is definitely the person to go to as June turns to July and no star should stand alone.

Should an outsider dare to offer her opinion; I would suggest Fourth of July celebrations aren’t going anywhere fast, but Juneteenth as a new national holiday, with a narrative that is peculiarly fitting for these times and with appeal to a new generation of Americans, may gain in traction and attraction. It is to be hoped, as Professor Gordon-Reed pleads for, that these days do not fall into competition rather are seen as complementary facets in an ever evolving national identity.

On June 19th in 1865

…and now every year

The way to recognition of Juneteenth has been long and sometimes contentious, but then such are the highways and byways of the Lone Star State and the routes leading out, but yesterday the US Congress passed a bill to make June 19th – “Juneteenth” – the United States’ eleventh federal holiday.

Until last year I had only heard vaguely of this particular day, or of its origins – and I defy many outside of the US to even pretend otherwise! And, I now read that there are an awful lot of Americans equally as ignorant. It seems, over some years now, many of the States have adopted a variety of “Emancipation” or “freedom” days that relate to their specific history, and so there is some reason to question, as Kaitlyn Greenidge does in her guest piece at the NYT, the sincerity of a unison national embrace around an event that honors the implementation of the Emancipation proclamation (of Jan 1st 1863) in Texas (two and a half years after the fact!). Kevin Young, in his essay, shares some of her misgivings but is more hopeful that Juneteenth will maintain its celebratory characteristics but evolve from being a mainly Black day of festivity into a shared national experience. Yes, to be hoped; after all, freedom now, as then, requires two committed parties: one in need of being freed and another willing to free, and an awareness that freedom is not unconditional but being permanently tested and renegotiated.

The bill as introduced to the 117th Congress.

Irrespective, today, President Biden will sign the bill into law, and another small but important step is taken by the United States on a path towards a new culture of collective memory. That can’t be a bad thing, and reason enough to celebrate.

As a matter of interest, in terms of legislation, the Congressional Research Service arm of the Library of Congress is one of the providers of information to members and committees to assist in their decision-making process – which didn’t deter fourteen (all Republicans) from dissenting on the Juneteenth legislation. The relevant so-called “Fact Sheet” is available here at the CRS, or may be directly downloaded below.

Juneteenth: Fact Sheet Congressional Research Service Download

Generally, these Fact Sheets offer some very accessible insight into even complex material (of which this example is actually not one), and a place to go when the media gobbledygook gets too, well… convoluted …or worse, suspiciously too well spun!

Juneteenth

Much said of this Juneteenth in the last days, so I will just link here to an explanation at The New York Times, and here to a favourite NYT opinion writer of recent times, Jamelle Bouie – a young, black man with a lot to say, and who says it well – who gives his particular slant upon the celebration, and its place in commemorating the struggle for emancipation and freedom of black Americans.

To whet one’s appetite. I receive a newsletter from Bouie every week, with interesting stuff beyond his Times column, and he usually signs off with a “what I’m eating” bit which includes a recipe; giving away his delight in good food. Thinking about this and then reading this piece entitled – and I write it out because its says something – “A Juneteenth of Joy and Resistance”, in which four African-American chefs share their thoughts about this day, it is interesting to contemplate the celebratory role payed by food, especially when influenced by traditional and regional flavours, within a community. As one of those four, is the recently spoken of Eduardo Jordan, and the very special emphasis he places on West African cuisine in the “diaspora”, and his commitment to imparting to his guests (predominately white) its broader cultural significance.

Should one be hungry for more – food, knowledge or both – a favourable review of Padma Lakshmi’s new Hulu series “Taste the Nation” sent me to YouTube for a bonus episode (for Juneteenth) which has unfortunately now been removed. It was really very well done, and while focusing on the the culinary delights, gave some very interesting insights into the Gullah Geechee people of South Carolina – their culture and language – and their efforts to preserve the traditions of their ancestors, West Africans forced into slavery.