Pushkin. On January first, eighteen sixty three, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a fit and necessary war measure to limit the Confederacy's use of enslaved people during the Civil War. Though the Song of Emancipation spread across the country, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't actually free all of the enslaved Black men, women, and children in rebel held territories. In most cases, enslaved people had to emancipate themselves, running away from plantations to Union armies. In other cases, enslavers hid the Emancipation Proclamation from the enslaved. In the Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people did not hear the Song of Emancipation until two and a half years later. On June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five, Union soldiers marched into Galveston, Texas, armed with the news that the Civil War was over and the slavery that brutally subjugated roughly two hundred and fifty thousand Black people in Texas was over too. I'm ebramex Kendy and this is the be Anti Racist Juneteenth mixtape. The day that those soldiers marched into Galveston, Texas became known as Juneteenth. This holiday has been recognized and celebrated in black homes, schools, families, and communities ever since. In recent years, America's enduring, deep rooted racism and the uprisings and movements to combat it have ushered the recognition of Juneteenth into the national consciousness. In twenty twenty, we saw celebrations, lectures, events in social media campaigns held to commemorate America's other independence day and the abolition of slavery. And in twenty twenty one, over one hundred and fifty years after the Emancipation Proclamation was finally enacted in Texas, we celebrate Juneteenth once more. But it is critically important to distinguish between abolishing slavery and freeing people. In eighteen sixty five, black people throughout the South implored Union officials to not abolish slavery in a way that would leave them landless and disenfranchise. Yet they were left without land in an agricultural society and told they were free. My ancestors asked not to be forced to work for their former masters, Yet many found themselves toiling and being terrorized in the same fields as supposedly free men and women. They asked that the law and the sheriff not replace the master in the whip. My ancestors were not truly free if they were still subjugated by racism, and their descendants and our allies have been engaged in the freedom struggle against racism ever since. It is important to reflect on what we are celebrating when we celebrate Juneteenth this year and every year. We are celebrating the freedom struggle against slavery before and during the Civil War. We are celebrating the freedom struggle to abolish racism since the Civil War. We are celebrating the black freedom struggle. We are celebrating the old and new fights to be free. That is what Juneteenth means to me. For this Juneteenth Mixtape, we wanted to find out what Juneteenth means to you and to our community. We reached out to leading voices in numinaries and hit the streets of New York to find out. Here's what we learned. Hello, do you mind if I actually a couple of questions about Juneteenth? Sure? My name is Ashley Atopaie. I'm from Bowie, Maryland. When would you say you first became aware of the term Juneteenth I believe it was at some point in college. I believe there was a campus event happening honoring the holiday, and that was probably the first time I read up on the history of the day. Do you think that most Americans are aware of Juneteenth? I think most Black Americans have been aware. I would say those from other races probably weren't as aware until last year due to the uprising of Black Lives Matter movement Saint George Floyd. So because of that timeline, I think last June was when a lot of people for the first time, we're knowing the history of that day and how much it means to African Americans in the US. Would you say, j there's a holiday that matters to you. Yeah, it definitely matters to me. I think it's a day for our community to reflect and honor the history of our people, of the African American people in this country. I think it's a combination of a day of celebration, celebrating where we are and the strides we've made in what freedom looks like in some aspects, and on the flip side of that coin, thinking about the ways our freedoms have not yet manifested and the battles that we're still fighting as a race in this country and in other countries where racism has manifested in very awful ways. So I think, you know, for the most part, I love personally like celebrating the day and getting together with my community locally and online and just spreading awareness of you know, how far we've come, but what issues need to be shed light on. I live in best eyes, so I'm sure there will be a bunch of events happening and I plan on coming out being in the community. Great. Well, there you, great time. Hi. My name is Annette Gordon Reid. I'm the Carl M. Loebe University Professor at Harvard University. I first learned about June tenth as a child because I was born in Texas and my family has lived in Texas for many generations. I grew up celebrating the day drinking far too much red soda water, eating too much barbecue, throwing firecrackers with my friends, and having an all around good time. But as I grew older, I came to understand from listening to my grandparents and my great grandmother, who lived until I was eleven, about how important the day was to think about the former enslaved people who learned on June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five that slavery was over in Texas. Day should be marked by joy and celebration, but also about remembrance. It's a day for family too. That's the thing that I took away from those celebrations in Livingston, Texas and Cone, Texas with my family gathering people together, and how important that was for people who had lived many, many years under the shadow of family displacement and sale as they retreated as items of property. So Juneteenth to me is a day of fun, it's a day of remembrance, and it's a day for family. And what I plan to do is talk to people about Juneteenth and have some red soda water and have some barbecue brisket. I'm known in the parks as hook Shot me Dean Street Park. When would you say you first became aware of the term June teenth? Oh? About a week ago? Really? Yeah, what happened? What was that conversation? Like? Actually, I've seen it on the news. What do you think June tenth means to Black Americans? Well, it means the struggle is not over. I guess it is a part of awareness to the young black brothers and sisters now when I'm from the Black Panther era right, which it was something totally different, right, But I'm glad to see that they are talking about being black and what blacks are all about, you know. But to me, it's just another day. There's another day the neighborhood. It's more about not just celebrating June teeth, but it's about being involved, contributing, getting out there and raising your voice. But I'm glad to see that something is being set. You know, it's time. You know, we've been sitting back for a couple of years now, since I say, the late eighties. We've been relaxed, you know what I'm saying. And because we relax they're taking advantage. Now you see the Republican Party. It's school class klan, point blank. They didn't go away. They just found another home. And you said, what was her name? They called you? What's your name? Again? Her name is the hook shot me. How'd you get back? Because I got a chechleis hook shot from anyway on Court and Dan Street Park. I'm also referred to as the goat. To know, I'll take it. I appreciate that thank you very much. I enjoyed that. I'm Tire Miles, and I'm a professor of history at Harvard University, a mom, and the author, most recently of all that she carried the journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family keeps Sake. I first became the warner of She tenth when I was a little girl, and I can't even remember now how old I was. What I do recall, what does come to mind are images of my mother taking me to beautiful green city parks along the Ohio River, live music vendors, really good food. I recall being able to sometimes get a T shirt or necklace, and being able to always get a pop sickle or an orange pop or a red pop. I remember my mother dancing on the grass and my feeling of happiness and pleasure at seeing her express herself so freely and feeling so comfortable in that community space. Juneteenth for America should be a memory marker. It should remind us all of the many dinner rations that Africans and African descended people spent in captivity. It would remind us of the radical change that was necessary to end that period of American history, and also of the continuing abuses that African Americans experienced, including not being told that they were free at the time that they were actually freed. Juneteenth also represents African American creativity, I think, and we see that creativity in the word itself. For me, Juneteenth means family, it means community, It means a space of pause and respite. And this Juneteenth, my family and I are going to be barbecuing in our yard and spending some time on a Google hangout with other family members who are far away from us in states across the country. My name is Amari Smith. And where are you? Originally from? Red Star, Brooklyn? Since ninety seven, same house, same everything. So what can you tell us about Juneteenth? Um? I just know that we should just give money from that day and we should be off period that's today, like slaves were freed, right, Yeah, yeah, I know it's like something with slavery. But I don't know the like the whole story about it because you never really learned about that should in school anyway. Do you remember when you first became familiar with the term? Um? Last year actually really sad just because of everything that was going on. Everything that was going on, and like my job said that we will have next Juneteenth or so that was kind of cool. Hi. What's your name, Sophie and where are you? Originally from? Harlem Teeth? Is the real independence day when the slaves were freed us? I don't think that people really pay attention to it much, or I think it's important. They're more focused on the commercial stuff like July fourth and stuff like that, or do you think it's the real independence day? I mean because they free the slaves, and slaves are people, so that's important. You know. I'm going to celebrate. I'm going to wear my shirt, my Juneteenth shirt. I'm gonna invite some friends over. We're gonna have some snacks. We're going to read about some things to teach each other, because I feel like a lot of us don't need to educate ourselves. So that's what I'll be doing. I'm Maurice Carlos Roughlan. I'm an author in a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. I first became aware of Juneteenth in high school. I think I was a freshman and I went to a high school that had a sort of radical black educational agenda, So they would tell us about activists and history and the story behind so many other stories that were not being told. So I'm pretty sure it was any number of my teachers in different classes who brought it up and told us what it was all about. I think that June teen to America means a few different things. I do think that maybe for mainstream America, people don't think very much about it. But I think that for African Americans and for people who are paying attention to the American history and the American President, Juneteenth is a time of reflection, it is a time of empowerment, and it's a time of celebration as well. For me personally, Juneteenth is very much about recognizing the beauty, the strength, the intellect, and the creativity of my ancestors, and for all the black folks in America who have pushed through different eras of oppression to provide for their families, to provide for themselves, and to provide for the country at large. So many gifts, whether it be in terms of literature or music or culture in society. For me, Juneteenth is time to embrace all that and just feel bigger and stronger. So this year, on Juneteenth, I'm asticly gonna be traveling. I work as a creative writing teacher in different university programs, and so I'll be going to a program in Virginia that's actually one of the most diverse faculties I work with in my life, and so I'm sure that while I'm there, I'm going to be thinking very much about Juneteenth, about how the love and the belief of my ancestors allowed me to get my education, allowed me to sort of lean into my own writing life and not be somebody providing that teams of education to other people in the world. So I'll be thinking about June teents very much, and I'll be celebrating it certainly all day. Hi. My name is Jermanei and I'm from Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised Juneteenth. I'm familiar with the fact that not all of us were free. Until all of us were free, it was a national celebration that ensued, and to this day we're still celebrating. We're not free from all of the oppression that we faced as a community, but we are free when as a whole diaspora and as a whole culture, we can recognize the strides that we've made to this point. When do you think you first became aware of the term definitely during the pandemic is when it was widespread and as a whole, we were celebrating because of all of the stress and all of the turmoil that we were put through. I knew about it before, heard about it, but never really experience the joy of being a part of it until you know, being in spaces where we're all celebrating, not just being outside because of a pandemic, but just the things that we're able to accomplish in the midst of the pandemic, bringing social awareness to our community issues, and also being able to celebrate the things that we accomplish as artists, as activists, as artivists as a whole. I think Juneteenth, for those who aren't Black, it's accountability. I feel like it's really acknowledging, Hey, we have not taken accountability for the stresses that we've put on the Black community, and we need to and we need to celebrate what the resiliency behind the Black community is. To this day. Black people are so resilient and they're so creative, and they just produce all of the things that make this world go round. Like, as a whole, I feel like Juneteenth to America is a spot where we can recognize the faults in the system but also celebrate how we were able to rise above that. My name is Adam Serwer, and I'm a staff writer with The Atlantic and the author of the forthcoming book The Cruelty is the Point the past, present, and future of Trump's America. I first learned about Juneteenth when I was a kid in Washington, DC, and I think that the holiday is complicated because it is a celebration of emancipation, but it also symbolizes the reality that freedom and progress are not inevitable, and that American history is often the story of promises too long delayed. The fact that the Thirteenth Amendment was not sufficient to abolish slavery throughout the South, and that General Gordon Granger was compelled to enforce abolition in Texas is a reminder of Frederick Douglas's maxim that power concedes nothing without demand. I will be spending my Juneteenth eating delicious barbecued meats with my family here in Texas, where the first Juneteenth was celebrated. Hey, how you doing. You have actually a couple of question about Juneteenth. Sure, what's your name? R? J I'm from DC, Maryland area. June tenth. I think I've known about June teen. Put it this way, I knew about it before last year. I have always knew that it represented the day in which African Americans would fleeing from slavery. But I do have to say that I fully learned what it was, probably in twenty and twenty. Is there any particular way in which you'll be celebrating Juneteenth this year or Well, that's a good question, and actually that sparks the idea I should celebrate it this year. We all should celebrate it. But now I don't have any plans to celebrate it. But now that you mentioned it, maybe now I do. I do think it's crazy that people don't know what Juneteenth Day is and that we don't celebrate it like at all, because we celebrate a lot fourth and that's what Independence Day was seventeen seventy six. No like African Americans with slaves then, So I don't really know what African Americans really have to celebrate about July fourth, because we weren't invited to that party. You know, we didn't enjoy the rights that they're celebrating, so to be honest, I think Juneteenth should be the real Independence day. That's if America is about freedom and justice for all and rights for everybody. Technically that wasn't the case until eighteen sixty five, so that to me sounds like more like an independence day than July fourth. If you asked me, my name is Heather McGee, and I'm the author of the book The Sum of Us, What Racism Costs Everyone and How we can prosper Together. On my book tour, I was asked a question about Juneteenth. Some union activists were trying to get a city council resolution making Juneteenth holiday, and there was a white member of the city council, a man who was opposed to the idea or hesitant about it, and the avis asked me what advice I would give for getting him to see Juneteenth is something that would be worth celebrating. And I got quiet, and I thought about this exercise of empathy that I've been doing for the past number of years to try to find a way to see a win win, a solidarity dividend that we can unlock when we come together across lines of race. I thought about how this man probably thought about July fourth as a holiday that was something he looked forward to, was the American Independence Day that he'd always enjoyed. He'd always loved the barbecues. You know, American workers don't get a lot of holidays, and we only have one in the summer, and it often results in a long weekend and family get togethers and grilled hot dogs and fireworks. We don't celebrate a lot as a people in this country. We don't give ourselves breaks too often. And I thought maybe this white city council member was seeing it through zero sum If Juneteenth is a holiday, does that mean he has to lose the holiday that he had grown up celebrating. I wonder if he's wondering, does he have to lose July fourth? Does he have to lose that Independence Day? And quite literally, will this white man be invited to the cookout if we begin to celebrate the true independence day, the day in which all of our people became free, and the day in which this country became free of the yoke of slavery that was handed to us before our founding. So it occurred to me that maybe when we talk about Juneteenth, we should paint a picture of what it looks like for everyone to celebrate, because the liberation of enslaved people is as important to every single person living in this land today as it is to any of us. It is our collective liberation because racism has a cost for everyone. So on the day of June nineteenth, every single American should celebrate and recommit to the principles of true freedom from the legacy of white supremacy, because truly that will make us all free. How are you celebrating Juneteenth this year? Tag us on Twitter at pushkin Pots and let us Know Be Anti Racist is a production of Pushing Industries and Our Heart Media. Juneteenth Mixtape was written a host by doctor Ebram x Kindy and produced by Britney Brown and Sasha Matthias with help from Alexandra Garratton and Nicolemorano. It was mixed and mastered by Ben Talliday. Our executive producers are Only Time Wild and Melo Bell. Many thanks to Tammy Winn and doctor Heaven Sandford at the Center for Anti Racist Research at Boston University. For all of the health at Pushkin thanks to Heather Fame, Klimgleori, John Schnarz, and Jacob Wiseberg. You can find doctor Kendy on Twitter at d r Ebram and on Instagram at ebram x K. You can find Pushkin on alsocial platforms at pushkin pots, and you can sign up for our newsletter at pushkin dot fm. To find more Pushkin podcast listen on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you'd like to listen

Pushkin. On January first, eighteen sixty three, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation as a fit and necessary war measure to limit the Confederacy's use of enslaved people during the Civil War. Though the Song of Emancipation spread across the country, the Emancipation Proclamation didn't actually free all of the enslaved Black men, women, and children in rebel held territories. In most cases, enslaved people had to emancipate themselves, running away from plantations to Union armies. In other cases, enslavers hid the Emancipation Proclamation from the enslaved. In the Confederate state of Texas, enslaved people did not hear the Song of Emancipation until two and a half years later. On June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five, Union soldiers marched into Galveston, Texas, armed with the news that the Civil War was over and the slavery that brutally subjugated roughly two hundred and fifty thousand Black people in Texas was over too. I'm ebramex Kendy and this is the be Anti Racist Juneteenth mixtape. The day that those soldiers marched into Galveston, Texas became known as Juneteenth. This holiday has been recognized and celebrated in black homes, schools, families, and communities ever since. In recent years, America's enduring, deep rooted racism and the uprisings and movements to combat it have ushered the recognition of Juneteenth into the national consciousness. In twenty twenty, we saw celebrations, lectures, events in social media campaigns held to commemorate America's other independence day and the abolition of slavery. And in twenty twenty one, over one hundred and fifty years after the Emancipation Proclamation was finally enacted in Texas, we celebrate Juneteenth once more. But it is critically important to distinguish between abolishing slavery and freeing people. In eighteen sixty five, black people throughout the South implored Union officials to not abolish slavery in a way that would leave them landless and disenfranchise. Yet they were left without land in an agricultural society and told they were free. My ancestors asked not to be forced to work for their former masters, Yet many found themselves toiling and being terrorized in the same fields as supposedly free men and women. They asked that the law and the sheriff not replace the master in the whip. My ancestors were not truly free if they were still subjugated by racism, and their descendants and our allies have been engaged in the freedom struggle against racism ever since. It is important to reflect on what we are celebrating when we celebrate Juneteenth this year and every year. We are celebrating the freedom struggle against slavery before and during the Civil War. We are celebrating the freedom struggle to abolish racism since the Civil War. We are celebrating the black freedom struggle. We are celebrating the old and new fights to be free. That is what Juneteenth means to me. For this Juneteenth Mixtape, we wanted to find out what Juneteenth means to you and to our community. We reached out to leading voices in numinaries and hit the streets of New York to find out. Here's what we learned. Hello, do you mind if I actually a couple of questions about Juneteenth? Sure? My name is Ashley Atopaie. I'm from Bowie, Maryland. When would you say you first became aware of the term Juneteenth I believe it was at some point in college. I believe there was a campus event happening honoring the holiday, and that was probably the first time I read up on the history of the day. Do you think that most Americans are aware of Juneteenth? I think most Black Americans have been aware. I would say those from other races probably weren't as aware until last year due to the uprising of Black Lives Matter movement Saint George Floyd. So because of that timeline, I think last June was when a lot of people for the first time, we're knowing the history of that day and how much it means to African Americans in the US. Would you say, j there's a holiday that matters to you. Yeah, it definitely matters to me. I think it's a day for our community to reflect and honor the history of our people, of the African American people in this country. I think it's a combination of a day of celebration, celebrating where we are and the strides we've made in what freedom looks like in some aspects, and on the flip side of that coin, thinking about the ways our freedoms have not yet manifested and the battles that we're still fighting as a race in this country and in other countries where racism has manifested in very awful ways. So I think, you know, for the most part, I love personally like celebrating the day and getting together with my community locally and online and just spreading awareness of you know, how far we've come, but what issues need to be shed light on. I live in best eyes, so I'm sure there will be a bunch of events happening and I plan on coming out being in the community. Great. Well, there you, great time. Hi. My name is Annette Gordon Reid. I'm the Carl M. Loebe University Professor at Harvard University. I first learned about June tenth as a child because I was born in Texas and my family has lived in Texas for many generations. I grew up celebrating the day drinking far too much red soda water, eating too much barbecue, throwing firecrackers with my friends, and having an all around good time. But as I grew older, I came to understand from listening to my grandparents and my great grandmother, who lived until I was eleven, about how important the day was to think about the former enslaved people who learned on June nineteenth, eighteen sixty five that slavery was over in Texas. Day should be marked by joy and celebration, but also about remembrance. It's a day for family too. That's the thing that I took away from those celebrations in Livingston, Texas and Cone, Texas with my family gathering people together, and how important that was for people who had lived many, many years under the shadow of family displacement and sale as they retreated as items of property. So Juneteenth to me is a day of fun, it's a day of remembrance, and it's a day for family. And what I plan to do is talk to people about Juneteenth and have some red soda water and have some barbecue brisket. I'm known in the parks as hook Shot me Dean Street Park. When would you say you first became aware of the term June teenth? Oh? About a week ago? Really? Yeah, what happened? What was that conversation? Like? Actually, I've seen it on the news. What do you think June tenth means to Black Americans? Well, it means the struggle is not over. I guess it is a part of awareness to the young black brothers and sisters now when I'm from the Black Panther era right, which it was something totally different, right, But I'm glad to see that they are talking about being black and what blacks are all about, you know. But to me, it's just another day. There's another day the neighborhood. It's more about not just celebrating June teeth, but it's about being involved, contributing, getting out there and raising your voice. But I'm glad to see that something is being set. You know, it's time. You know, we've been sitting back for a couple of years now, since I say, the late eighties. We've been relaxed, you know what I'm saying. And because we relax they're taking advantage. Now you see the Republican Party. It's school class klan, point blank. They didn't go away. They just found another home. And you said, what was her name? They called you? What's your name? Again? Her name is the hook shot me. How'd you get back? Because I got a chechleis hook shot from anyway on Court and Dan Street Park. I'm also referred to as the goat. To know, I'll take it. I appreciate that thank you very much. I enjoyed that. I'm Tire Miles, and I'm a professor of history at Harvard University, a mom, and the author, most recently of all that she carried the journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family keeps Sake. I first became the warner of She tenth when I was a little girl, and I can't even remember now how old I was. What I do recall, what does come to mind are images of my mother taking me to beautiful green city parks along the Ohio River, live music vendors, really good food. I recall being able to sometimes get a T shirt or necklace, and being able to always get a pop sickle or an orange pop or a red pop. I remember my mother dancing on the grass and my feeling of happiness and pleasure at seeing her express herself so freely and feeling so comfortable in that community space. Juneteenth for America should be a memory marker. It should remind us all of the many dinner rations that Africans and African descended people spent in captivity. It would remind us of the radical change that was necessary to end that period of American history, and also of the continuing abuses that African Americans experienced, including not being told that they were free at the time that they were actually freed. Juneteenth also represents African American creativity, I think, and we see that creativity in the word itself. For me, Juneteenth means family, it means community, It means a space of pause and respite. And this Juneteenth, my family and I are going to be barbecuing in our yard and spending some time on a Google hangout with other family members who are far away from us in states across the country. My name is Amari Smith. And where are you? Originally from? Red Star, Brooklyn? Since ninety seven, same house, same everything. So what can you tell us about Juneteenth? Um? I just know that we should just give money from that day and we should be off period that's today, like slaves were freed, right, Yeah, yeah, I know it's like something with slavery. But I don't know the like the whole story about it because you never really learned about that should in school anyway. Do you remember when you first became familiar with the term? Um? Last year actually really sad just because of everything that was going on. Everything that was going on, and like my job said that we will have next Juneteenth or so that was kind of cool. Hi. What's your name, Sophie and where are you? Originally from? Harlem Teeth? Is the real independence day when the slaves were freed us? I don't think that people really pay attention to it much, or I think it's important. They're more focused on the commercial stuff like July fourth and stuff like that, or do you think it's the real independence day? I mean because they free the slaves, and slaves are people, so that's important. You know. I'm going to celebrate. I'm going to wear my shirt, my Juneteenth shirt. I'm gonna invite some friends over. We're gonna have some snacks. We're going to read about some things to teach each other, because I feel like a lot of us don't need to educate ourselves. So that's what I'll be doing. I'm Maurice Carlos Roughlan. I'm an author in a native of New Orleans, Louisiana. I first became aware of Juneteenth in high school. I think I was a freshman and I went to a high school that had a sort of radical black educational agenda, So they would tell us about activists and history and the story behind so many other stories that were not being told. So I'm pretty sure it was any number of my teachers in different classes who brought it up and told us what it was all about. I think that June teen to America means a few different things. I do think that maybe for mainstream America, people don't think very much about it. But I think that for African Americans and for people who are paying attention to the American history and the American President, Juneteenth is a time of reflection, it is a time of empowerment, and it's a time of celebration as well. For me personally, Juneteenth is very much about recognizing the beauty, the strength, the intellect, and the creativity of my ancestors, and for all the black folks in America who have pushed through different eras of oppression to provide for their families, to provide for themselves, and to provide for the country at large. So many gifts, whether it be in terms of literature or music or culture in society. For me, Juneteenth is time to embrace all that and just feel bigger and stronger. So this year, on Juneteenth, I'm asticly gonna be traveling. I work as a creative writing teacher in different university programs, and so I'll be going to a program in Virginia that's actually one of the most diverse faculties I work with in my life, and so I'm sure that while I'm there, I'm going to be thinking very much about Juneteenth, about how the love and the belief of my ancestors allowed me to get my education, allowed me to sort of lean into my own writing life and not be somebody providing that teams of education to other people in the world. So I'll be thinking about June teents very much, and I'll be celebrating it certainly all day. Hi. My name is Jermanei and I'm from Brooklyn, New York. Born and raised Juneteenth. I'm familiar with the fact that not all of us were free. Until all of us were free, it was a national celebration that ensued, and to this day we're still celebrating. We're not free from all of the oppression that we faced as a community, but we are free when as a whole diaspora and as a whole culture, we can recognize the strides that we've made to this point. When do you think you first became aware of the term definitely during the pandemic is when it was widespread and as a whole, we were celebrating because of all of the stress and all of the turmoil that we were put through. I knew about it before, heard about it, but never really experience the joy of being a part of it until you know, being in spaces where we're all celebrating, not just being outside because of a pandemic, but just the things that we're able to accomplish in the midst of the pandemic, bringing social awareness to our community issues, and also being able to celebrate the things that we accomplish as artists, as activists, as artivists as a whole. I think Juneteenth, for those who aren't Black, it's accountability. I feel like it's really acknowledging, Hey, we have not taken accountability for the stresses that we've put on the Black community, and we need to and we need to celebrate what the resiliency behind the Black community is. To this day. Black people are so resilient and they're so creative, and they just produce all of the things that make this world go round. Like, as a whole, I feel like Juneteenth to America is a spot where we can recognize the faults in the system but also celebrate how we were able to rise above that. My name is Adam Serwer, and I'm a staff writer with The Atlantic and the author of the forthcoming book The Cruelty is the Point the past, present, and future of Trump's America. I first learned about Juneteenth when I was a kid in Washington, DC, and I think that the holiday is complicated because it is a celebration of emancipation, but it also symbolizes the reality that freedom and progress are not inevitable, and that American history is often the story of promises too long delayed. The fact that the Thirteenth Amendment was not sufficient to abolish slavery throughout the South, and that General Gordon Granger was compelled to enforce abolition in Texas is a reminder of Frederick Douglas's maxim that power concedes nothing without demand. I will be spending my Juneteenth eating delicious barbecued meats with my family here in Texas, where the first Juneteenth was celebrated. Hey, how you doing. You have actually a couple of question about Juneteenth. Sure, what's your name? R? J I'm from DC, Maryland area. June tenth. I think I've known about June teen. Put it this way, I knew about it before last year. I have always knew that it represented the day in which African Americans would fleeing from slavery. But I do have to say that I fully learned what it was, probably in twenty and twenty. Is there any particular way in which you'll be celebrating Juneteenth this year or Well, that's a good question, and actually that sparks the idea I should celebrate it this year. We all should celebrate it. But now I don't have any plans to celebrate it. But now that you mentioned it, maybe now I do. I do think it's crazy that people don't know what Juneteenth Day is and that we don't celebrate it like at all, because we celebrate a lot fourth and that's what Independence Day was seventeen seventy six. No like African Americans with slaves then, So I don't really know what African Americans really have to celebrate about July fourth, because we weren't invited to that party. You know, we didn't enjoy the rights that they're celebrating, so to be honest, I think Juneteenth should be the real Independence day. That's if America is about freedom and justice for all and rights for everybody. Technically that wasn't the case until eighteen sixty five, so that to me sounds like more like an independence day than July fourth. If you asked me, my name is Heather McGee, and I'm the author of the book The Sum of Us, What Racism Costs Everyone and How we can prosper Together. On my book tour, I was asked a question about Juneteenth. Some union activists were trying to get a city council resolution making Juneteenth holiday, and there was a white member of the city council, a man who was opposed to the idea or hesitant about it, and the avis asked me what advice I would give for getting him to see Juneteenth is something that would be worth celebrating. And I got quiet, and I thought about this exercise of empathy that I've been doing for the past number of years to try to find a way to see a win win, a solidarity dividend that we can unlock when we come together across lines of race. I thought about how this man probably thought about July fourth as a holiday that was something he looked forward to, was the American Independence Day that he'd always enjoyed. He'd always loved the barbecues. You know, American workers don't get a lot of holidays, and we only have one in the summer, and it often results in a long weekend and family get togethers and grilled hot dogs and fireworks. We don't celebrate a lot as a people in this country. We don't give ourselves breaks too often. And I thought maybe this white city council member was seeing it through zero sum If Juneteenth is a holiday, does that mean he has to lose the holiday that he had grown up celebrating. I wonder if he's wondering, does he have to lose July fourth? Does he have to lose that Independence Day? And quite literally, will this white man be invited to the cookout if we begin to celebrate the true independence day, the day in which all of our people became free, and the day in which this country became free of the yoke of slavery that was handed to us before our founding. So it occurred to me that maybe when we talk about Juneteenth, we should paint a picture of what it looks like for everyone to celebrate, because the liberation of enslaved people is as important to every single person living in this land today as it is to any of us. It is our collective liberation because racism has a cost for everyone. So on the day of June nineteenth, every single American should celebrate and recommit to the principles of true freedom from the legacy of white supremacy, because truly that will make us all free. How are you celebrating Juneteenth this year? Tag us on Twitter at pushkin Pots and let us Know Be Anti Racist is a production of Pushing Industries and Our Heart Media. Juneteenth Mixtape was written a host by doctor Ebram x Kindy and produced by Britney Brown and Sasha Matthias with help from Alexandra Garratton and Nicolemorano. It was mixed and mastered by Ben Talliday. Our executive producers are Only Time Wild and Melo Bell. Many thanks to Tammy Winn and doctor Heaven Sandford at the Center for Anti Racist Research at Boston University. For all of the health at Pushkin thanks to Heather Fame, Klimgleori, John Schnarz, and Jacob Wiseberg. You can find doctor Kendy on Twitter at d r Ebram and on Instagram at ebram x K. You can find Pushkin on alsocial platforms at pushkin pots, and you can sign up for our newsletter at pushkin dot fm. To find more Pushkin podcast listen on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or whatever you'd like to listen