Most of us learned about the Emancipation Proclamation in school at some point, the executive order by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 that set free all enslaved people in Confederate states fighting against the North during the American Civil War. Of course, the part we may not have learned in class is that not everyone was freed at that exact moment due to Confederate control. It took until June 19, 1865 before the last slaves were notified that they were, in fact, free.
This date was celebrated for many years among Black Americans, but it has only recently become a date that other Americans are aware of. It wasn’t until 2021 that it became a federal holiday prompted largely by civil unrest over the brutal killing of George Floyd.
While the Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” the reality is that, despite these lofty and admirable aspirations, we have never- as a society- met them.
As you celebrate Juneteenth, consider adding some of these books to your bookshelf. commit to developing a better understanding of what slavery did to human beings and to our country and how Emancipation changed the direction of the country for the better.
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (novel)
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (novel)
Kindred by Octavia Butler (novel)
Beloved by Toni Morrison (novel)
Out of the House of Bondage: The Transformation of the Plantation Household by Thavolia Glymph
Nothing but Freedom: Emancipation and Its Legacy by Eric Foner
Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market by Walter Johnson
On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America by Ira Berlin
As you read these books, share what you learn with others. Talk about it. Hold a book club. It does not have to be a monthly thing. It could be a one time meet up to discuss just one book you read at the same time another friend or two reads the book. Learn about the special history of Juneteeth and why it is important to our country as a whole.