JUNETEENTH
RACE, HISTORY, AND OUR WORK AT METANOIA
By: Alexandria Searles, Marketing Specialist
Alexandria works in Metanoia's Marketing Department. She was part of the Metanoia family for three years before as a MYLA partner, teaching art and dance.
We pause this weekend to celebrate Juneteenth, a celebration of the moment when enslaved people in Texas were finally freed as the result of the Emancipation Proclamation being issued more than two years earlier. Recently, I have been thinking about holidays like Juneteenth, Memorial Day, and this month’s celebration of Black Music Month. I am contemplating how the way we treat the history of these holidays and memorials is a reflection of how we often treat Black people in our nation. At the intersection of race and history is the indifference to the contributions of Black people to the U.S. and the world.
The first Memorial Day was a celebration of formerly enslaved people showing appreciation to Union Soldiers in the area we now know as Hampton Park in Charleston. Yet so few Americans know this history and I was not taught it myself growing up in South Carolina. In the 1970s, the Administration of Jimmy Carter named June Black Music Month. Black Music Month and Juneteenth are nationally recognized holidays, but they are not nationally celebrated. Black music has culturally influenced the world, but it is barely recognized during the month of its celebration.
Our indifference to the positive contributions of a group of people allows us to exercise our negative ideas about them without considering their circumstances. The way we treat Black contributions to history directly correlates with how we treat Black people today. This idea of active indifference ignores the assets of Black communities while over-identifying them as "bad." It allows us to label and disregard people that are experiencing the negative implications of systemic racism. But, it is the same stereotyped people who, despite the circumstances, have made a remarkably positive impact on the world. Read the full article here!
Alexandria Searles is also a local artist. Learn more about her artwork and impact here!
