What is Juneteenth?

Jun 19

Juneteenth marks the day on June 19, 1865 when thousands of slaves in Texas were finally recognized as being free more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and more than two months after the Civil War ended. Now a federal holiday, it recognizes the moment of emancipation reaching all of the former Confederacy. For allies who are white and/or people of color, it is a moment of reflection on how frequently justice and equity are delayed or never arrive for Black Americans.

ACTION for non-Black people to celebrate and support Black liberation

Deeply consider the wound of racism on the hearts of every Black American.
Read: Study Black history, Black poets, Black leaders, Black achievements [lists below].
Do things about racism as readily as you do things for your own children.
Make a list of resolutions, promises, vows to use your power, privilege, platforms to give space to Black and Brown leaders.
Find an accountability partner and make the list public of what actions you will take. You can do this on social media. A lot of those actions will be giving up privilege and making room for folks who you may not have noticed have no room at all.
Stop talking about how uncomfortable it is to talk about racism or police violence.
Stop being afraid of your own internalized white supremacy. Search within at thought and deed. Who cares about being comfortable? What about being true, brave and real instead?
Stop talking and listen to what needs to be done.
Plan on spending time in spaces with folks who are not like you.
Hold other white people accountable with measured voices that call folks in to change. Engage in courageous conversations that allow them to feel – and to let that feeling be a crucible for change.

Donate to Black organizations continuing to do the good work and fight for racial justice:

National organizations | Minneapolis organizations: Black Visions, Face to Face, Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, NAACP Minneapolis, Penumbra Theatre, Reclaim the Block, Urban League Twin Cities, Voices for Racial Justice, Pimento Relief Services, Black Table Arts Cooperative (There are so many amazing organizations beyond this list. We encourage you to look into what Black organizations are doing work that you care about or in your neighborhood! Do your research to learn more about the vibrant ecosystem of Black leadership in our communities!)

LEARN about and celebrate Juneteenth

Learn more about Juneteenth

From the New York Times: Juneteenth: The History of a New Holiday Vox explainer and 7-minute video
More complex and nuanced explainer from Jamelle Bouie
Since June is also Pride month, honor LGBTQIA+ and Black leaders and excellence, like Bayard Rustin (here and here) who helped Martin Luther King Jr. organize the 1963 March and was so instrumental in the civil rights movement.

Celebrate and volunteer Juneteenth in events: Here’s a curated list from the African American Leadership Forum and the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder.

READ

Support our local BIPOC-owned bookstores:

Black Garnet Books (Black woman owned)
Birchbark Books (Native woman owned)

Daily Show Trevor Noah’s list of essential Black authors and interviews (video)

My Vanishing Country: A Memoir - Bakari Sellers
The Vanishing Half- Brit Bennett
Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closing on Chicago’s South Side- Eve L. Ewing
How Not to Get Shot: And Other Advice from White People- D.L. Hughley
Stakes is High: Life After the American Dream- Mychal Denzel Smith
On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope- DeRay Mckesson
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World- Patrisse Cullors
They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America’s Racial Justice Movement
Thick: And Other Essays- Tressie McMillan Cottom
We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy- Ta-Nehisi Coates

Books focused on how to be a better ally

How to Be an Antiracist- Ibram X. Kendi
Me and White Supremacy- Layla Saad

Other book recommendations

The Sum of Us- Heather McGee
Caste- Isabel Wilkerson
Between the World and Me- Ta-Nahesi Coates
Patriarchy Blues- Fred Joseph
The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley
The Wretched of the Earth- Frantz Fanon
Writings of Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove who writes about American cities, Black communities, and re-discovering history and joy, including Urban Alchemy and Root Shock
Anything from W.E.B. Du Bois
Their Eyes Were Watching God- Zora Neale Hurston
Black Skins, White Masks- Frantz Fanon
The Fire Next Time and Go Tell it on the Mountain- James Baldwin
The Color of Law: A forgotten history of how our government segregated America- Richard Rothstein
No Ashes in the Fire- Darnell L. Moore
Helium- Rudy Francisco (poetry)
Octavia E. Bulter’s sci fi works