Juneteenth 2020

What an amazing, eye-opening, jaw dropping, horrible and yet somewhat remarkable year we are having.

And the attractions just keep coming! This is the first year ever that I’ve seen acknowledgement of a Juneteenth on such a huge level. While it’s not yet a federal holiday, more states are waking up to the need to acknowledge it for their residents.
Truth be told, I did not learn about Juneteenth in my household. I had never even heard of Juneteenth until my ex-husband’s niece participated in and won Delaware’s Miss Juneteenth pageant. By then, I had had my first child, dropped out and re-enrolled in college. So, I was already in my 20’s. I suspect that there will now be children of all races that will know about this aspect of my heritage at a younger age than I did. That’s a bittersweet. But, overall, it’s a good thing that it is being talked about and celebrated at all.

Case in point, my partner celebrated by making some red punch that according to a news segment he caught, was historically enjoyed for Juneteenth to commemorate all those who had fallen to achieve freedom. When I looked it up, it seems that that tradition may have even deeper roots.

In the lettering community on Instagram, there have been all kinds of posts devoted to this holiday. I love it! My favorites are here, here, here, and here. But, I also stumbled across this video where a young man breaks down unknown history behind Juneteenth, proving once again that there’s always more Black History to uncover and learn.