Juneteenth: A Pivotal Moment

Dear Ham Fam,

On such a historic occasion as this, we wanted to commemorate the overdue yet glorious decision of our country’s government and leadership to finally thrust Juneteenth into the limelight it deserves. Congratulations to everyone for whom this is so special! We are beyond thrilled to witness this piece of progress.

There is no denying that the founding and development of our country has a very complicated and often egregious history -- the repercussions of which we still see systematically ingrained into our lives today. The celebration and recognition of Juneteenth as a pivotal moment in US history is dually a recognition of the wrongdoings and inhumanities of our past, from which we cannot continue to hide, deny, or repress. There is SO much work to be done. We are grateful to celebrate moments like this, which hopefully prove that, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
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We are your allies now and always. To all celebrating this weekend, we wish you the most joyous and special Juneteenth.  For anyone lacking the deeply important knowledge on this holiday, we offer this description from Melina Abdullah of Black Lives Matter:

“Juneteenth is a commemoration of the date that Major General Gordon Granger delivered General Orders Number 3 to enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, more than two-and-a-half years after President Lincoln’s issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation. The Order gave instructions to Black folks to “remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages.” It was the liberatory spirits of our Ancestors that took this opening to demand full freedom for Black people. Nobody gave it to us. This is the tradition of Juneteenth.”

IMAGE PULLED FROM GLADSTONE.ORG; ARTIST UNKNOWN

Love and congratulations to all!
Sincerely, SH

author: lara freeman-erbin