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Speaker 1: Pushkin. On January first, eighteen sixty three, President Abraham Lincoln

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Speaker 1: issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a fit and necessary war

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Speaker 1: measure to limit the Confederacy's use of enslaved people during

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Speaker 1: the Civil War. Though the Song of Emancipation spread across

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Speaker 1: the country, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't actually free all of

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Speaker 1: the enslaved Black men, women, and children in rebel held territories.

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Speaker 1: In most cases, enslaved people had to emancipate themselves, running

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Speaker 1: away from plantations to Union armies. In other cases, enslavers

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Speaker 1: hid the Emancipation Proclamation from the enslaved. In the Confederate

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Speaker 1: state of Texas, enslaved people did not hear the Song

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Speaker 1: of Emancipation until two and a half years later. On

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Speaker 1: June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five, Union soldiers marched into Galveston, Texas,

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Speaker 1: armed with the news that the Civil War was over

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Speaker 1: and the slavery that brutally subjugated roughly two hundred and

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Speaker 1: fifty thousand Black people in Texas was over too. I'm

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Speaker 1: ebramex Kendy and this is the be Anti Racist Juneteenth mixtape.

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Speaker 1: The day that those soldiers marched into Galveston, Texas became

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Speaker 1: known as Juneteenth. This holiday has been recognized and celebrated

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Speaker 1: in black homes, schools, families, and communities ever since. In

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Speaker 1: recent years, America's enduring, deep rooted racism and the uprisings

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Speaker 1: and movements to combat it have ushered the recognition of

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Speaker 1: Juneteenth into the national consciousness. In twenty twenty, we saw celebrations, lectures,

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Speaker 1: events in social media campaigns held to commemorate America's other

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Speaker 1: independence day and the abolition of slavery. And in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one, over one hundred and fifty years after the

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Speaker 1: Emancipation Proclamation was finally enacted in Texas, we celebrate Juneteenth

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Speaker 1: once more. But it is critically important to distinguish between

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Speaker 1: abolishing slavery and freeing people. In eighteen sixty five, black

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Speaker 1: people throughout the South implored Union officials to not abolish

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Speaker 1: slavery in a way that would leave them landless and disenfranchise.

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Speaker 1: Yet they were left without land in an agricultural society

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Speaker 1: and told they were free. My ancestors asked not to

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Speaker 1: be forced to work for their former masters, Yet many

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Speaker 1: found themselves toiling and being terrorized in the same fields

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Speaker 1: as supposedly free men and women. They asked that the

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Speaker 1: law and the sheriff not replace the master in the whip.

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Speaker 1: My ancestors were not truly free if they were still

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Speaker 1: subjugated by racism, and their descendants and our allies have

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Speaker 1: been engaged in the freedom struggle against racism ever since.

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Speaker 1: It is important to reflect on what we are celebrating

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Speaker 1: when we celebrate Juneteenth this year and every year. We

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Speaker 1: are celebrating the freedom struggle against slavery before and during

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Speaker 1: the Civil War. We are celebrating the freedom struggle to

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Speaker 1: abolish racism since the Civil War. We are celebrating the

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Speaker 1: black freedom struggle. We are celebrating the old and new

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Speaker 1: fights to be free. That is what Juneteenth means to me.

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Speaker 1: For this Juneteenth Mixtape, we wanted to find out what

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Speaker 1: Juneteenth means to you and to our community. We reached

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Speaker 1: out to leading voices in numinaries and hit the streets

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Speaker 1: of New York to find out. Here's what we learned. Hello,

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Speaker 1: do you mind if I actually a couple of questions

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Speaker 1: about Juneteenth? Sure? My name is Ashley Atopaie. I'm from Bowie, Maryland.

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Speaker 1: When would you say you first became aware of the

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Speaker 1: term Juneteenth I believe it was at some point in college.

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Speaker 1: I believe there was a campus event happening honoring the holiday,

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Speaker 1: and that was probably the first time I read up

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Speaker 1: on the history of the day. Do you think that

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Speaker 1: most Americans are aware of Juneteenth? I think most Black

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Speaker 1: Americans have been aware. I would say those from other

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Speaker 1: races probably weren't as aware until last year due to

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Speaker 1: the uprising of Black Lives Matter movement Saint George Floyd.

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Speaker 1: So because of that timeline, I think last June was

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Speaker 1: when a lot of people for the first time, we're

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Speaker 1: knowing the history of that day and how much it

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Speaker 1: means to African Americans in the US. Would you say,

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Speaker 1: j there's a holiday that matters to you. Yeah, it

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Speaker 1: definitely matters to me. I think it's a day for

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Speaker 1: our community to reflect and honor the history of our people,

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Speaker 1: of the African American people in this country. I think

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Speaker 1: it's a combination of a day of celebration, celebrating where

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Speaker 1: we are and the strides we've made in what freedom

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Speaker 1: looks like in some aspects, and on the flip side

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Speaker 1: of that coin, thinking about the ways our freedoms have

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Speaker 1: not yet manifested and the battles that we're still fighting

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Speaker 1: as a race in this country and in other countries

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Speaker 1: where racism has manifested in very awful ways. So I think,

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Speaker 1: you know, for the most part, I love personally like

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Speaker 1: celebrating the day and getting together with my community locally

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Speaker 1: and online and just spreading awareness of you know, how

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Speaker 1: far we've come, but what issues need to be shed

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Speaker 1: light on. I live in best eyes, so I'm sure

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Speaker 1: there will be a bunch of events happening and I

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Speaker 1: plan on coming out being in the community. Great. Well,

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Speaker 1: there you, great time. Hi. My name is Annette Gordon Reid.

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Speaker 1: I'm the Carl M. Loebe University Professor at Harvard University.

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Speaker 1: I first learned about June tenth as a child because

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Speaker 1: I was born in Texas and my family has lived

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Speaker 1: in Texas for many generations. I grew up celebrating the

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Speaker 1: day drinking far too much red soda water, eating too

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Speaker 1: much barbecue, throwing firecrackers with my friends, and having an

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Speaker 1: all around good time. But as I grew older, I

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Speaker 1: came to understand from listening to my grandparents and my

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Speaker 1: great grandmother, who lived until I was eleven, about how

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Speaker 1: important the day was to think about the former enslaved

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Speaker 1: people who learned on June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five that

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Speaker 1: slavery was over in Texas. Day should be marked by

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Speaker 1: joy and celebration, but also about remembrance. It's a day

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Speaker 1: for family too. That's the thing that I took away

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Speaker 1: from those celebrations in Livingston, Texas and Cone, Texas with

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Speaker 1: my family gathering people together, and how important that was

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Speaker 1: for people who had lived many, many years under the

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Speaker 1: shadow of family displacement and sale as they retreated as

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Speaker 1: items of property. So Juneteenth to me is a day

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Speaker 1: of fun, it's a day of remembrance, and it's a

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Speaker 1: day for family. And what I plan to do is

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Speaker 1: talk to people about Juneteenth and have some red soda

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Speaker 1: water and have some barbecue brisket. I'm known in the

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Speaker 1: parks as hook Shot me Dean Street Park. When would

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Speaker 1: you say you first became aware of the term June teenth? Oh?

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Speaker 1: About a week ago? Really? Yeah, what happened? What was

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Speaker 1: that conversation? Like? Actually, I've seen it on the news.

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Speaker 1: What do you think June tenth means to Black Americans? Well,

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Speaker 1: it means the struggle is not over. I guess it

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Speaker 1: is a part of awareness to the young black brothers

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Speaker 1: and sisters now when I'm from the Black Panther era right,

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Speaker 1: which it was something totally different, right, But I'm glad

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Speaker 1: to see that they are talking about being black and

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Speaker 1: what blacks are all about, you know. But to me,

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Speaker 1: it's just another day. There's another day the neighborhood. It's

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Speaker 1: more about not just celebrating June teeth, but it's about

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Speaker 1: being involved, contributing, getting out there and raising your voice.

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Speaker 1: But I'm glad to see that something is being set.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's time. You know, we've been sitting back

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Speaker 1: for a couple of years now, since I say, the

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Speaker 1: late eighties. We've been relaxed, you know what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: And because we relax they're taking advantage. Now you see

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Speaker 1: the Republican Party. It's school class klan, point blank. They

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Speaker 1: didn't go away. They just found another home. And you said,

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Speaker 1: what was her name? They called you? What's your name? Again?

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Speaker 1: Her name is the hook shot me. How'd you get back?

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Speaker 1: Because I got a chechleis hook shot from anyway on

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Speaker 1: Court and Dan Street Park. I'm also referred to as

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Speaker 1: the goat. To know, I'll take it. I appreciate that

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Speaker 1: thank you very much. I enjoyed that. I'm Tire Miles,

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Speaker 1: and I'm a professor of history at Harvard University, a mom,

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Speaker 1: and the author, most recently of all that she carried

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Speaker 1: the journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family keeps Sake.

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Speaker 1: I first became the warner of She tenth when I

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Speaker 1: was a little girl, and I can't even remember now

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Speaker 1: how old I was. What I do recall, what does

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Speaker 1: come to mind are images of my mother taking me

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Speaker 1: to beautiful green city parks along the Ohio River, live

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Speaker 1: music vendors, really good food. I recall being able to

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Speaker 1: sometimes get a T shirt or necklace, and being able

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Speaker 1: to always get a pop sickle or an orange pop

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Speaker 1: or a red pop. I remember my mother dancing on

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Speaker 1: the grass and my feeling of happiness and pleasure at

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Speaker 1: seeing her express herself so freely and feeling so comfortable

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Speaker 1: in that community space. Juneteenth for America should be a

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Speaker 1: memory marker. It should remind us all of the many

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Speaker 1: dinner rations that Africans and African descended people spent in captivity.

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Speaker 1: It would remind us of the radical change that was

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Speaker 1: necessary to end that period of American history, and also

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Speaker 1: of the continuing abuses that African Americans experienced, including not

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Speaker 1: being told that they were free at the time that

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Speaker 1: they were actually freed. Juneteenth also represents African American creativity,

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Speaker 1: I think, and we see that creativity in the word itself.

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Speaker 1: For me, Juneteenth means family, it means community, It means

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Speaker 1: a space of pause and respite. And this Juneteenth, my

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Speaker 1: family and I are going to be barbecuing in our

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Speaker 1: yard and spending some time on a Google hangout with

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Speaker 1: other family members who are far away from us in

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Speaker 1: states across the country. My name is Amari Smith. And

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Speaker 1: where are you? Originally from? Red Star, Brooklyn? Since ninety seven,

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Speaker 1: same house, same everything. So what can you tell us

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Speaker 1: about Juneteenth? Um? I just know that we should just

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Speaker 1: give money from that day and we should be off

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Speaker 1: period that's today, like slaves were freed, right, Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I know it's like something with slavery. But I don't

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Speaker 1: know the like the whole story about it because you

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Speaker 1: never really learned about that should in school anyway. Do

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Speaker 1: you remember when you first became familiar with the term? Um?

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Speaker 1: Last year actually really sad just because of everything that

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Speaker 1: was going on. Everything that was going on, and like

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Speaker 1: my job said that we will have next Juneteenth or

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Speaker 1: so that was kind of cool. Hi. What's your name,

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Speaker 1: Sophie and where are you? Originally from? Harlem Teeth? Is

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Speaker 1: the real independence day when the slaves were freed us?

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Speaker 1: I don't think that people really pay attention to it much,

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Speaker 1: or I think it's important. They're more focused on the

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Speaker 1: commercial stuff like July fourth and stuff like that, or

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Speaker 1: do you think it's the real independence day? I mean

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Speaker 1: because they free the slaves, and slaves are people, so

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Speaker 1: that's important. You know. I'm going to celebrate. I'm going

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Speaker 1: to wear my shirt, my Juneteenth shirt. I'm gonna invite

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Speaker 1: some friends over. We're gonna have some snacks. We're going

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Speaker 1: to read about some things to teach each other, because

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Speaker 1: I feel like a lot of us don't need to

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Speaker 1: educate ourselves. So that's what I'll be doing. I'm Maurice

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Speaker 1: Carlos Roughlan. I'm an author in a native of New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Speaker 1: I first became aware of Juneteenth in high school. I

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Speaker 1: think I was a freshman and I went to a

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Speaker 1: high school that had a sort of radical black educational agenda,

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Speaker 1: So they would tell us about activists and history and

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Speaker 1: the story behind so many other stories that were not

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Speaker 1: being told. So I'm pretty sure it was any number

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Speaker 1: of my teachers in different classes who brought it up

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Speaker 1: and told us what it was all about. I think

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Speaker 1: that June teen to America means a few different things.

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Speaker 1: I do think that maybe for mainstream America, people don't

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Speaker 1: think very much about it. But I think that for

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Speaker 1: African Americans and for people who are paying attention to

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Speaker 1: the American history and the American President, Juneteenth is a

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Speaker 1: time of reflection, it is a time of empowerment, and

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Speaker 1: it's a time of celebration as well. For me personally,

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Speaker 1: Juneteenth is very much about recognizing the beauty, the strength,

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Speaker 1: the intellect, and the creativity of my ancestors, and for

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Speaker 1: all the black folks in America who have pushed through

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Speaker 1: different eras of oppression to provide for their families, to

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Speaker 1: provide for themselves, and to provide for the country at large.

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Speaker 1: So many gifts, whether it be in terms of literature

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Speaker 1: or music or culture in society. For me, Juneteenth is

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Speaker 1: time to embrace all that and just feel bigger and stronger.

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Speaker 1: So this year, on Juneteenth, I'm asticly gonna be traveling.

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Speaker 1: I work as a creative writing teacher in different university programs,

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Speaker 1: and so I'll be going to a program in Virginia

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Speaker 1: that's actually one of the most diverse faculties I work

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Speaker 1: with in my life, and so I'm sure that while

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Speaker 1: I'm there, I'm going to be thinking very much about Juneteenth,

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Speaker 1: about how the love and the belief of my ancestors

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Speaker 1: allowed me to get my education, allowed me to sort

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Speaker 1: of lean into my own writing life and not be

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Speaker 1: somebody providing that teams of education to other people in

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Speaker 1: the world. So I'll be thinking about June teents very much,

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Speaker 1: and I'll be celebrating it certainly all day. Hi. My

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Speaker 1: name is Jermanei and I'm from Brooklyn, New York. Born

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Speaker 1: and raised Juneteenth. I'm familiar with the fact that not

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Speaker 1: all of us were free. Until all of us were free,

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Speaker 1: it was a national celebration that ensued, and to this

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Speaker 1: day we're still celebrating. We're not free from all of

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Speaker 1: the oppression that we faced as a community, but we

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Speaker 1: are free when as a whole diaspora and as a

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Speaker 1: whole culture, we can recognize the strides that we've made

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Speaker 1: to this point. When do you think you first became

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Speaker 1: aware of the term definitely during the pandemic is when

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Speaker 1: it was widespread and as a whole, we were celebrating

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Speaker 1: because of all of the stress and all of the

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Speaker 1: turmoil that we were put through. I knew about it before,

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Speaker 1: heard about it, but never really experience the joy of

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Speaker 1: being a part of it until you know, being in

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Speaker 1: spaces where we're all celebrating, not just being outside because

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Speaker 1: of a pandemic, but just the things that we're able

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Speaker 1: to accomplish in the midst of the pandemic, bringing social

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Speaker 1: awareness to our community issues, and also being able to

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Speaker 1: celebrate the things that we accomplish as artists, as activists,

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Speaker 1: as artivists as a whole. I think Juneteenth, for those

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Speaker 1: who aren't Black, it's accountability. I feel like it's really acknowledging, Hey,

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Speaker 1: we have not taken accountability for the stresses that we've

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Speaker 1: put on the Black community, and we need to and

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Speaker 1: we need to celebrate what the resiliency behind the Black

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Speaker 1: community is. To this day. Black people are so resilient

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Speaker 1: and they're so creative, and they just produce all of

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Speaker 1: the things that make this world go round. Like, as

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Speaker 1: a whole, I feel like Juneteenth to America is a

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Speaker 1: spot where we can recognize the faults in the system

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Speaker 1: but also celebrate how we were able to rise above that.

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Speaker 1: My name is Adam Serwer, and I'm a staff writer

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Speaker 1: with The Atlantic and the author of the forthcoming book

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Speaker 1: The Cruelty is the Point the past, present, and future

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Speaker 1: of Trump's America. I first learned about Juneteenth when I

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Speaker 1: was a kid in Washington, DC, and I think that

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Speaker 1: the holiday is complicated because it is a celebration of emancipation,

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Speaker 1: but it also symbolizes the reality that freedom and progress

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Speaker 1: are not inevitable, and that American history is often the

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Speaker 1: story of promises too long delayed. The fact that the

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Speaker 1: Thirteenth Amendment was not sufficient to abolish slavery throughout the South,

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Speaker 1: and that General Gordon Granger was compelled to enforce abolition

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Speaker 1: in Texas is a reminder of Frederick Douglas's maxim that

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Speaker 1: power concedes nothing without demand. I will be spending my

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Speaker 1: Juneteenth eating delicious barbecued meats with my family here in Texas,

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Speaker 1: where the first Juneteenth was celebrated. Hey, how you doing.

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Speaker 1: You have actually a couple of question about Juneteenth. Sure,

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Speaker 1: what's your name? R? J I'm from DC, Maryland area.

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Speaker 1: June tenth. I think I've known about June teen. Put

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Speaker 1: it this way, I knew about it before last year.

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Speaker 1: I have always knew that it represented the day in

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Speaker 1: which African Americans would fleeing from slavery. But I do

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Speaker 1: have to say that I fully learned what it was,

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Speaker 1: probably in twenty and twenty. Is there any particular way

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Speaker 1: in which you'll be celebrating Juneteenth this year or Well,

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Speaker 1: that's a good question, and actually that sparks the idea

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Speaker 1: I should celebrate it this year. We all should celebrate it.

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Speaker 1: But now I don't have any plans to celebrate it.

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Speaker 1: But now that you mentioned it, maybe now I do.

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Speaker 1: I do think it's crazy that people don't know what

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Speaker 1: Juneteenth Day is and that we don't celebrate it like

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Speaker 1: at all, because we celebrate a lot fourth and that's

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Speaker 1: what Independence Day was seventeen seventy six. No like African

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Speaker 1: Americans with slaves then, So I don't really know what

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Speaker 1: African Americans really have to celebrate about July fourth, because

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Speaker 1: we weren't invited to that party. You know, we didn't

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Speaker 1: enjoy the rights that they're celebrating, so to be honest,

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Speaker 1: I think Juneteenth should be the real Independence day. That's

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Speaker 1: if America is about freedom and justice for all and

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Speaker 1: rights for everybody. Technically that wasn't the case until eighteen

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Speaker 1: sixty five, so that to me sounds like more like

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Speaker 1: an independence day than July fourth. If you asked me,

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Speaker 1: my name is Heather McGee, and I'm the author of

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Speaker 1: the book The Sum of Us, What Racism Costs Everyone

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Speaker 1: and How we can prosper Together. On my book tour,

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Speaker 1: I was asked a question about Juneteenth. Some union activists

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Speaker 1: were trying to get a city council resolution making Juneteenth holiday,

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Speaker 1: and there was a white member of the city council,

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Speaker 1: a man who was opposed to the idea or hesitant

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Speaker 1: about it, and the avis asked me what advice I

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Speaker 1: would give for getting him to see Juneteenth is something

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Speaker 1: that would be worth celebrating. And I got quiet, and

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Speaker 1: I thought about this exercise of empathy that I've been

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Speaker 1: doing for the past number of years to try to

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Speaker 1: find a way to see a win win, a solidarity

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Speaker 1: dividend that we can unlock when we come together across

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Speaker 1: lines of race. I thought about how this man probably

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Speaker 1: thought about July fourth as a holiday that was something

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Speaker 1: he looked forward to, was the American Independence Day that

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Speaker 1: he'd always enjoyed. He'd always loved the barbecues. You know,

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Speaker 1: American workers don't get a lot of holidays, and we

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Speaker 1: only have one in the summer, and it often results

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Speaker 1: in a long weekend and family get togethers and grilled

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Speaker 1: hot dogs and fireworks. We don't celebrate a lot as

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Speaker 1: a people in this country. We don't give ourselves breaks

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Speaker 1: too often. And I thought maybe this white city council

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Speaker 1: member was seeing it through zero sum If Juneteenth is

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Speaker 1: a holiday, does that mean he has to lose the

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Speaker 1: holiday that he had grown up celebrating. I wonder if

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Speaker 1: he's wondering, does he have to lose July fourth? Does

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Speaker 1: he have to lose that Independence Day? And quite literally,

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Speaker 1: will this white man be invited to the cookout if

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Speaker 1: we begin to celebrate the true independence day, the day

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Speaker 1: in which all of our people became free, and the

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Speaker 1: day in which this country became free of the yoke

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Speaker 1: of slavery that was handed to us before our founding.

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Speaker 1: So it occurred to me that maybe when we talk

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Speaker 1: about Juneteenth, we should paint a picture of what it

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Speaker 1: looks like for everyone to celebrate, because the liberation of

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Speaker 1: enslaved people is as important to every single person living

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Speaker 1: in this land today as it is to any of us.

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Speaker 1: It is our collective liberation because racism has a cost

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Speaker 1: for everyone. So on the day of June nineteenth, every

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Speaker 1: single American should celebrate and recommit to the principles of

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Speaker 1: true freedom from the legacy of white supremacy, because truly

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Speaker 1: that will make us all free. How are you celebrating

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Speaker 1: Juneteenth this year? Tag us on Twitter at pushkin Pots

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Speaker 1: and let us Know Be Anti Racist is a production

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Speaker 1: of Pushing Industries and Our Heart Media. Juneteenth Mixtape was

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Speaker 1: written a host by doctor Ebram x Kindy and produced

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00:24:11,036 --> 00:24:14,116
Speaker 1: by Britney Brown and Sasha Matthias with help from Alexandra

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Speaker 1: Garratton and Nicolemorano. It was mixed and mastered by Ben Talliday.

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Speaker 1: Our executive producers are Only Time Wild and Melo Bell.

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Speaker 1: Many thanks to Tammy Winn and doctor Heaven Sandford at

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Speaker 1: the Center for Anti Racist Research at Boston University. For

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Speaker 1: all of the health at Pushkin thanks to Heather Fame, Klimgleori,

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Speaker 1: John Schnarz, and Jacob Wiseberg. You can find doctor Kendy

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Speaker 1: on Twitter at d r Ebram and on Instagram at

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Speaker 1: ebram x K. You can find Pushkin on alsocial platforms

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Speaker 1: at pushkin pots, and you can sign up for our

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00:24:43,516 --> 00:24:46,956
Speaker 1: newsletter at pushkin dot fm. To find more Pushkin podcast

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Speaker 1: listen on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 1: whatever you'd like to listen