What's going on everybody? Welcome to another episode of Your Support Group. This is Kenny. And you know I got my girl with me.
Always always. So today I want to talk about this thing called Juneteenth.
Um so a lot of people don't know what Juneteenth is all about. And I I just want to run down through it. And I want to talk about why some people don't support Juneteenth. Um kind of sort of me and also too I want to talk about why people should support Juneteenth because it I mean it's one of those holidays that we just got gave by the grace of god so I mean some people feel like you know so we'll talk about that and a whole lot more did I just click off cool I'm going to hop right into this because I'll probably have to edit out that part anyway. Cuz I was caught off guard.
So for those of you that don't know what Juneteenth is.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States because of Joe Biden and it commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. It is also often observed for celebrating African American culture. It originated in Galvestonte it has been celebrated annually on June 19th in various parts of the United States since 1865 the day was recognized as a federal holiday on June 17th, 2021 like I said because of Joe Biden he signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law Juneteenth commemorates commemoration is on the anniversary date of June 19th, 1865 and it was a announced it was an announcement of General Order number 3 by Union Army General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas which was the last state of the confederacy with institutional slavery and for some odd reason now Q I have an issue with that.
Mhm. And this is why. Because Juneteenth was a day to celebrate the slaves in Texan Texas being emancipated. Right.
If the whole world is well, everybody in the United States is celebrating Juneteenth on June 19th. And, some people were emancipated before that.
I'm just wondering why would they just pick one for all or should it be like some include your state's emancipation emancipation date or I'm just wondering? Um the way I kind of see it is this.
It's kind of like a solidarity thing where if one of us is still in captivity, we're kind of all still in captivity and until though our brothers and sisters were released from bondage then we technically all weren't free. So that's the way I kind of see everybody doing it and that's kind of where I go with it.
It's kind of like well if how can we celebrate being free if we still have brothers and sisters you know in this this institution of slavery. But I get what they're saying. Like everyone is going to have a different day. So why aren't we celebrating those days? Right because I I read somewhere that actually Texas wasn't like the last to free their slaves. Um it was a lot of Indian reservations that their slaves were still enslaved beyond June 19th and certain parts of Texas within that whole Juneteenth thing they had like still had slaves all the way up to like August.
So that's why I kind of find it hard to say you know happy Juneteenth and my family doesn't originate from Texas or anything like that. So that's why I'm kind of on the fence with it. Like yeah I'm glad that we got it. But now that we got it you see what they're trying to do with it too. They're trying to commercialize it and make it into a business. You know the Martin Luther King Day sale.
But that's what they all they've always made money off black bodies, black purposes, black this, black that. We are how they make their money.
Anyway they can find a way to capitalize on black anything they're going to do it so Yeah. Oh yeah.
Trust me. Like I I know and they snatched it off the shelves but I know everybody seen the Juneteenth ice cream. I kind of wanted to see if it was like Neapolitan type ice cream or was it like some sherbet or frozen yogurt? Uh I mean you know hey black people need to eat healthy too. Frozen yogurt is pretty good for you. And then they have a non-dairy kind because you know I'm lactose intolerant.
Nah my wife ain't going to let that happen.
Thank you. You ate what no you’re sleeping on the couch tonight. So I I was just wondering for a minute then the ramifications of what actually took place made me want to take it a little bit more seriously. Like come on man. Like us, we gotta do better as a country. Like you know this is why everybody kind of looks at us the way they do around the world like oh they ain't really doing anything for they black people yet. Yeah. Well the whole reason why that was even made a holiday was because they were trying not to do something else that black people were asking for. Asking for justice and police reform but instead we got Juneteenth.
So it's like here you go.
And that and that is right. That is my other part. That gives me the whole pick me vibe. The whole oh we can't give you this but we give you that. We can't give you 40 acres in the mule but we'll give you Juneteenth. We can't give you reparations but we'll give you Juneteenth. We can't promise that just because you black you won't get beat on a Tuesday.
Right. But we'll give you Juneteenth. And the whole funny thing about it was literally no one was asking for Juneteenth to be a holiday and now don't get me wrong I was celebrating it because I had been in Juneteenth festivals right there in Winston Salem when I lived there we participated in them but no one was asking well I don't recall anyone asking for that to be made a federal holiday so it was like first of all we didn't even ask for that what we asked you for was not to get shot up in the street but okay I mean in all honest and this is me just keeping it 100.
Like I didn't find out about Juneteenth until I was in my teens. So that goes to show that it was a lot like older black people that didn't know anything about it. Um And so now you got this new holiday and it feels almost like it was created in a sense of like we said just now like a pick me or I give you this and that a substitute for something that they can't give us.
And now we're supposed to teach a whole new generation about this holiday when half of us don't even know anything about it. Right. And then the other thing is like you said in a kind of a way it more pertains to the people of Galveston.
Ancestors from those people are the descendants from the ancestors that lived in that area not globally or nationally is what I really wanted to say so it's like like I get celebrating it yeah because yeah our brothers and sisters were finally let free but at the same time like why would somebody from Louisiana be taught that when they didn't really pertain to us or so somebody in South Carolina or Georgia because it didn't pertain to them you know right right why why would anybody from New Jersey New York were yeah you know you might get cussed out talking about happy Juneteenth they like you must be from the country right you know that's not like something that you made up you know and I I I applaud them for getting the holiday intact but I mean it it's just a mess you know it's just a mess I I think it was kind of poor timing on their behalf for getting the holiday pass and it was done in kind of poor taste because everybody was looking in shock and almost horror like oh oh okay so we're we're doing this correct alright it's like one of the worst consolation prizes like you're on the prices right and you were trying to get that yacht but then they give you like a box of crackers it's like yeah wait a minute your grand prize is yeah a box of stale crackers yeah and don't the holiday is fine but that's not what people were asking for in regards to I would take a law being passed to save my life as opposed to getting a federal holiday you know what I mean like I could always take a day off when I want to but right in the skin which clearly I look black I got the hair I got the the chocolate they gone oh use a black person.
Ain't no denying it. Yeah and then without the education portion of it because I mean if we were poorly educated about it. Can you imagine the white people that's poorly educated about it? So then we come back from off of this federal holiday and they look at us like so how was your Juneteenth? Was your Juneteenth great? And you look like what? What are you talking about? Yeah.
And that's another thing that's always weird for me too because and I'm going to say this with a little bit of discretion because even with the MLK holiday Doctor Martin Luther King Junior I was at work one day and this Hispanic lady was sitting next to me and she said I don't know who that black guy was but I'm sure glad we got the day off and I just looked at her like I wanted to punch her right in her throat like excuse me you don't know who the that black guy was like literally fought for my civil rights by people's and your like and and your civil rights as well because without our civil rights getting passed or him fighting for our civil rights with nobody else.
You know no other community. So I really hate the miseducation and the misinformation that this country has in place which makes Juneteenth and me I'm still on the fence about it. I'm going to be honest. I'm on the fence about it. Like I said I don't have an ancestor that comes from Texas but yet I know because I had to educate myself because in the beginning I was like I ain't celebrating that mess.
Dang. Come on. But I but I understand now like as I you know did my dig in and my soul searching and said you know somewhere along the line I had an ancestor that was emancipated.
So this is supposed to be like the all inclusive from state to state emancipation holiday so I'll celebrate it somewhat to an extent But I'm not going as far as buying me no Juneteenth ice cream, no Juneteenth T shirts, none of that. Because it's not a holiday to make money about this. Uh it's almost like a black person on America's Memorial Day. Mhm. We do this in commemoration of all the black slaves that died and got they tail whooped.
You know? Yep.
I mean I'll buy some merch if I know it's coming from a black owned person because if I'm going to spend my money with somebody it's going to be you know to somebody who understands or at least I would hope understands what it means. Right. Oh definitely. I fully understand that. I mean I've been trying to get on this whole black owned thing for a while but it's kind of hard because we don't own a lot. So now I want to move to That part.
And and and Imma Imma backtrack just a little bit. The ones that do, don't make it known that they own it. So because they're afraid to scale off the people of other colors as clients. So now that we've gone past that part I want to discuss more or less why people should celebrate Juneteenth. And I think I touched on that because it's just in commemoration of all people being freed, emancipated basically. I mean it's true that the reason why it took federal troops to free you know the slaves in Texas was because they was trying to get another crop in.
You know it's true that you know the native American people own Inuit people owned plantations and they had slaves on them and being that you know tribal territories and different things like that work under different federal agreement they probably wasn't notified probably like four or five years after you know the emancipation began. Um I even read in one article where they were talking about how you know people in Delaware weren't actually free.
Until after you know the Juneteenth emancipation in Galveston, Texas. So, I mean, the reason to just be all inclusive about it is because we just don't know. We don't know, we don't know the truth. I mean, half of our history is gone. Haff of our history we'll never see. We'll never know. You know, so many of your ancestors of my ancestors that we'll never have a lineage or a link to.
You know, some of us don't even know what part of Africa we come from or do we actually not come from Africa. We don't know that. Um The main thing is to just do it in commemoration of you know free people. Right. That's it. That's the main thing. That's my main takeaway from it. And that's why I say you should celebrate it. You don't have to go all out but just celebrate it with your mind.
Right. You know.
Pay homage to those that came before and also if you're going to go buy the merch like I said Cuz I'm rocking one.
Oh. Oh well I'm rocking I'm rocking one too. See you can go buy this merch right here. One of those because I was going to ask you. Where's my shirt? Oh I can send you one. I will send you one with a coffee cup. Okay.
Yeah. I'll pay for it.
Nah. I will send you one. I will send you one. Look. This is a conversation we shouldn't be having on the podcast. Now they're going to think I'm a bad person and because I asked you to be on the Podcast. You know they are going to think now that I ain't giving you the merch for free. Now we can't be doing this here. This is a black owned business.
I get all my merch for free.
Oh man. This has turned into a bad Juneteenth here. Uh But no. Uh closing arguments Q. No. We are good. Oh yeah. I did want to say this. Um another reason why we should celebrate Juneteenth and this is my closing state but I don't know if you are planning to do this but I'm going to do it anyway. Uh to the American slave is your Fourth of July I answer a day that reveals to him more than all other days of the year that the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim Frederick Douglass indeed indeed and so Yeah.
Cuz it's been constant. And I know y'all used to me talking about some news stuff. I need to take a break. For real. Like it's a lot. And it wore on me. Um as a parent I don't want to talk about that tragedy any more. Um as a family man that loves shopping in the grocery store. Don't want to talk about that tragedy any more. And now I'm hearing other stories about other places where this is happening.
And like I said that stuff won't be over. Um trust and believe. It's going to get bad before it gets better because people aren't listening until it starts affecting them. You know, just like the crack epidemic, you know, it was all these junkies and all these evil people doing drugs and now it's oh these people need help and they need rehab and different things like that. Yeah.
So, just keep your hearts and minds with those families that are affected by any of those travesties and also to keep your hearts and minds with your ancestors and you know the things that fell upon them when they arrived in this country. That's what Juneteenth is about. It's just being in commemoration of them and look nobody told you today that they love you.
We do. So happy Juneteenth.
Merry Christmas no I'm just playing but Don't do that. Don't do that. Uh but happy Juneteenth to everybody out there. Um watching this Podcast and if you catch it a little bit before then just play it back on Juneteenth again. Don't worry. Um you should just support the black business. So you can play it like eight times. Tell your mama. Tell your sister.
Tell your friends. This will be on YouTube. This is on Facebook. Um and also you can go to my website at www.ysgpodcast.com. Were Q Got Post. I got posts. You can find out all the social links to both of us. Um those are business links. Those are business links. Don't try to send us nothing personal. Um but we still love you.
We do. Um yeah. So thank you Q as always. Peace.
Peace. Let's close this you.
