Who knows what Juneteenth really is?

Intro Music: SOLO BLUES CONTES

Closing Music: Wolf

Introduction

• In this episode, I decided to conduct a small sociological experiment by asking random people in Chicago, “What is Juneteenth”.

• I asked people in the Loop (downtown) and on the South Side, ranging from 15-80 years old.

• Make sure you stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 of Mr. J.P’s podcast on education and black music education and history.

• There is also a Chicago south side law enforcement officer that I interviewed and will be posting in the next few weeks. This is a good one!

The sound bites

• Black college students in downtown Chicago didn’t know what Juneteenth was.

• Additional soundbites from the Chicago loop will be posted below on this web page.

• A Virgin Island gentleman from the south side didn’t recognize the name Juneteeth, but he was familiar with the history of black slavery.

• Black lady in her 60’s from the south side had an idea about what Juneteenth was. She said she had to research it herself after hearing about it years ago. She will teach her grandkids’ about the day and let them know about being free, although she believes we are still not free.

• A 50-year-old Black man from the south side said: “it’s the celebration when they actually found out about Blacks being free from slavery”. He believes it should be a national holiday.

• 68-year-old women from the south side knew her history and said: “We were supposed to be free but we still are not free.”

• 15-year lady from the south side said “its when the slaves were free from slavery”

• The 78-year-old lady said, “it was the day that we were supposed to be free.” She would teach her kids how we struggled and how we got free”

• My kids (7 and 4-year-old) stated it was when “Abraham Lincoln signed a paper to make black people free.

• Alexa said “It’s a public holiday at the end of slavery in Texas in 1895”

Conclusion

• What really is Juneteenth?

• Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated on June 19 for the past 150 years that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Many don’t know what it is, or how it got its name.  The name Juneteenth originated from what is known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, which is a combination of “June” and “nineteenth,” in honor of the day that Granger announced the abolition of slavery in Texas.

• What we didn’t know prior to this. Number of black slaves by black slave owners.

• Obama wanted to make this a national holiday when he was a senator but didn’t sign off on it as President.

• There is a flag for this celebration

• The states that do not celebrate this holiday today: North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Montana, and Hawaii