America's newest national holiday is being celebrated for its fourth official year. How are those in Texas, where the roots of Juneteenth originate, enjoying the "Second Independence Day"?
I believe it can warm everybody's heart to see these celebrations. It is a liberty to see millions of Americans enjoying the day when the General Gordon Granger enforced the Emancipation Proclamation for the final time on June 19, 1865 in the isolated state of Texas. Despite the Proclamation being issued over two years by Abe Lincoln, Southern slaveholders, among the rebel Confederacy, denied the law up until enforcement, which is why the holiday commemorates the final American emancipation. In the words of Ray Charles and Solomon Burke, "if one of us is chained / None of us are free."
And so, how are we proclaiming freedom and equality this year? Opal Lee, a the 97 year-old civil rights activist aptly dubbed the "Grandmother of Juneteenth," tearfully returned to the site of her childhood home, upon which a new house had been built, where her family had been driven out decades before. She has delivered public speeches, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, worked as an educator for over two decades, and continues to work in activism.
"I'm wanting young people to realize that we can make a difference." Just now, she lead an annual 2.5 mile walk in Texas in the name of "freedom for all of us... if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love." Her words will ring true timelessly.
During this time of barbecues and tea cakes (which are experiencing a revival), peace walks and history, what everybody can do to observe Juneteenth, is to always strive for peace.
Image Credits: Getty Images, Opal Lee, Shutterstock
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