African American

Hi itf,
I'm going to be writing a blog on Juneteenth and have done a LOT of digging into its history, and Texas' history involving the Civil War. I found this article: https://www.historians.org/research-and-publications/perspectives-on-history/summer-2021/a-juneteenth-dilemma-freedom-and-self-determination and thought it might be a good read for you.

When I read this article, I am struck by the reality that to understand Juneteenth, you have to understand Texas and its role in the Civil War, the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation, and the effects of the 13th Amendment on the lives of black people in a historical context.

So, instead of Juneteenth getting broader, it gets narrower.

And I am truly struck by the difficulty you're going to face in promoting it without available materials.

So here is an idea. Instead of promoting books that you don't have, promote Juneteenth articles with pictures. Just make copies and put them in holders. Articles about the history of Juneteenth, the spread of Juneteenth Celebrations. Perhaps the importance of the 13th Amendment, or the end of the Civil War. Also articles about the lives of the newly freed African-Americans. I think doing some searches on potential articles will give you a wealth of information to make up for the fact that the books don't exist yet - and may not exist for another few years.

I am convinced that the focus of a Juneteenth exhibit should be around the year 1865 as it relates to African-American history. It's going to take time to educate Americans on why African-Americans have been celebrating Juneteenth, and what it really meant.

BTW - Juneteenth is an appeasement holiday. It would have never been created if not for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, and a bone thrown by the government to offer some acknowledgement of African-American history. It is certainly not a solution to our problems and the issue of institutional racism, which is what we truly need.