Clint Smith on Juneteenth & Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

Such an excellent and vitally important interview. There is a Loving Revolution unfolding which is demanding long overdue justice and equality, of which Clint Smith is certainly a strong voice for. We continue to have a long, long ways to go to truly learn how to embody being increasingly antiracist in our consciousness and our values, thoughts, and actions. Deep bow of respect and gratitude for each and every one of us who are working to create a more just, equitable, compassionate, generous, and loving society, nation, and world ― and beginning within our own hearts and minds. Bless us all, no exceptions. ― Molly

As President Biden signs legislation to make Juneteenth a federal holiday to mark the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned of their freedom more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, we speak to the writer and poet Clint Smith about Juneteenth and his new book, “How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America.” “When I think of Juneteenth, part of what I think about is the both-endedness of it,” Smith says, “that it is this moment in which we mourn the fact that freedom was kept from hundreds of thousands of enslaved people for years and for months after it had been attained by them, and then, at the same time, celebrating the end of one of the most egregious things that this country has ever done.” Smith says he recognizes the federal holiday marking Juneteenth as a symbol, “but it is clearly not enough.”

 

Please go here for the original interview and full transcript: https://www.democracynow.org/2021/6/18/juneteenth_federal_holiday