A Juneteenth reading list

“It would be a stretch to say this freed the slaves of Texas. There, as elsewhere in the South, attempts to act on this freedom were met with violence from former slave owners and other angry whites. ‘There is much evidence to suggest that southern whites—especially Confederate parolees—perpetrated more acts of violence against newly freed bondspeople in Texas than in other states,’ writes historian Elizabeth Hayes Turner in an essay titled ‘Juneteenth: Emancipation and Memory.’”

This holiday, which only became a nationwide celebration (among Black Americans) in the 20th century, has grown in stature over the last decade as a result of key anniversaries (2011 to 2015 was the sesquicentennial of the Civil War), trends in public opinion (the growing racial liberalism of left-leaning whites), and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. … 

Juneteenth may mark just one moment in the struggle for emancipation, but the holiday gives us an occasion to reflect on the profound contributions of enslaved Black Americans to the cause of human freedom. It gives us another way to recognize the central place of slavery and its demise in our national story.

On the night of June 19, 1939, when Lee was twelve years old, a white mob gathered, demanding that the family leave. Lee and her brothers took refuge at a friend’s house a few blocks away while her parents fled under cover of darkness. The mob trashed the home and set it on fire.

Lee’s mom and dad never discussed what happened with their children, so some of the details of that night have been lost. But the date of the attack, Juneteenth, would become central to Lee’s life and legacy. She went on to become a teacher and raise four children, but upon retiring, she set her mind to making Juneteenth a federal holiday. In 2016, at age 89, she began walking in towns and cities from Fort Worth all the way to Washington, D.C., a trek that transformed her into a larger-than-life figure in the political and cultural landscape of America.

For several of my adolescent years in the 1960s, my family motored 45 miles northwest on US 290 from southeast Houston’s Sunnyside neighborhood to Prairie View’s small community of African American farmers. There, we joined several other Black families for what was billed as a picnic. It became a much anticipated ritual that, to me, had no significance other than an opportunity to spend a day in the country gorging on fried chicken, barbecue, burgers, hot dogs, red soda water, and soul food dishes, and wallowing in an itchy bed of hay tugged by a clattering tractor. …

Despite my innocence, I’d like to think the adults who brought us together for their annual Juneteenth celebration did at some point kick around a few conversations reflecting on the occasion’s true purpose. While slamming dominoes and talking noise, playing the card game bid whist, and gossiping, they must have discussed June 19, 1865, when Black Texans became some of the last of 4 million enslaved African Americans formally notified of their freedom. Perhaps the adults acknowledged the history or, like us kids, just enjoyed a leisurely day with their friends.

I do not doubt that other Black families around the state were engaged in similar celebrations for the day saluting African American heritage.